Costa Rica Extradites Top Drug Traffickers to US for Trial in New York Federal Court

Costa Rica extradited one of its top drug traffickers and a fellow cartel member to the United States on Thursday to stand trial in federal court, authorities said. Costa Rican businessman Gilbert Bell Fernandez, known as "Macho Coca, and Colombian Gabriel Lozano Bonilla, known as "Compadre, were flown from Juan Santa Maria International Airport, northwest of San Jose, to New York. Bell Fernandez, 63, is considered one of the biggest drug traffickers in Costa Rica by the U.S. Treasury Department, which says he is "known not only for the volume of drugs he moves but the violence with which he operates.

He was placed on its sanctions list in 2023. Both men allegedly took part in trafficking cocaine to the U.S. for the Colombian Gulf Clan cartel, which Washington has labeled a Foreign Terrorist Organization. "The DEA links them to the Gulf Clan, Costa Rican Attorney General Carlo Diaz told reporters, referring to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Lozano Bonilla, a naturalized Costa Rican, is also allegedly linked to shipments of liquid cocaine to Europe and Asia.