Drug trafficking network, including beauty salon, sanctioned for alleged cocaine trafficking to the US through Costa Rica

The United States imposed sanctions on five Costa Ricans and five Costa Rican entities (including a beauty salon) for allegedly helping transport tons of cocaine from Colombia, storing the drugs in Costa Rica and then shipping them to the United States and Europe.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control alleges that Costa Rican Luis Manuel Picado Grijalba (known as “Shock”) is the ring’s leader and one of the most prolific international drug traffickers in the Caribbean, along with his brother Jordie Kevin Picado Grijalba (known as “Noni”).

“Shock and Noni are responsible for importing cocaine into Costa Rica, primarily through maritime routes, and storing the cocaine in warehouses throughout the country,” the US Treasury said in a press release.

The latest sanctions also target Grijalba’s wife and mother-in-law, and family businesses, including a beauty salon called Magic Esthetic Salon, linked to alleged drug trafficking and money laundering.

Federal authorities allege that Shock and Noni expanded their business by forming alliances with other drug traffickers and armed groups, including hitmen or hitmen.

In December 2024, Shock was arrested in the United Kingdom and is currently detained pending a final decision on his extradition to the United States, according to the Treasury Department. Last August, Noni was arrested in Costa Rica and is also detained pending a decision on his extradition to the US.

A task force made up of the field offices of the National Security and Anti-Drug Agency, as well as the Costa Rican Attorney General’s Office and others, worked to locate the sanctioned individuals and companies.

Among other things, the sanctions deny individuals and companies access to any property or financial assets in the United States and prevent American companies and citizens from doing business with them.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that “the entire drug trafficking supply chain – from shipping facilitators to money launderers – is responsible for American addictions and deaths,” in announcing the sanctions.

Thursday’s sanctions are part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration against drug trafficking in the Caribbean.

The US military has carried out a series of deadly attacks on alleged drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean. More than 100 people have been killed in attacks since early September and in the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil, the CIA carried out a drone attack in decemberr in a docking area believed to have been used by drug cartels.

Additionally, the Trump administration reached an agreement with Costa Rica early last year during the visit of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, where Costa Rica agreed to keep deported Americans in detention centers for the Trump administration while arranging for their return to their countries.

Last June, the U.S. sanctioned six accused of drug trafficking who allegedly use boats and “narco-submarines” to traffic cocaine. Four Guyanese and two Colombian citizens were sanctioned for allegedly trafficking tons of cocaine from South America to the United States, Europe and the Caribbean.