Authorities of Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) escort Alejandro Arias, known as “El Diablo,” the Central American country’s most wanted fugitive and a suspect sought by the United States on drug trafficking charges, in Alajuela, Costa Rica, in this handout image distributed on July 24, 2026. (Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ)/Handout via Reuters)
Costa Rican authorities captured Alejandro Arias, the fugitive known as “Diablo” or “El Diablo,” on Friday after an armed confrontation that lasted nearly an hour in the Sarapiqui region northeast of the capital.
Arias, 41, had been at large for almost 10 years and was also long sought by the United States on drug-trafficking charges.
Costa Rican warrants charged him with drug trafficking, robbery, first-degree murder and money laundering.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials say he is the leader of a violent transnational criminal organization, and last year the Department of State posted a
for information leading to his capture.
Friday’s operation took place approximately 42 miles from San Jose in the north of the Caribbean region. Officers exchanged fire with Arias’s group. One member of the entourage was killed. Eight police officers were wounded, with two in critical condition.
Authorities recovered five high-caliber military rifles, three handguns and surveillance drones at the scene.
Alongside Arias, officers detained two other gang members. One was Jonathan Perez, known as “Tan,” described as an alleged drug-trafficking leader.
Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency director Michael Soto said the gangs connected to those arrested Friday are responsible for 360 homicides.
“In a fairly complex police operation, we have managed to detain Alejandro Arias Monge and two very important subjects in the country’s criminal history,” Soto said.
He later characterized the effort as “a very precise, very professional operation that led to these arrests, which were necessary for the Costa Rican people.”
Costa Rican officials have linked a recent surge in killings in the Central American country to clashes among drug-trafficking organizations. Arias, according to those same officials, played a central role in that violence.
The DEA alleges Arias has conspired with drug traffickers to move multi-hundred-kilogram loads of cocaine out of Colombia.
The cocaine is smuggled through Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala to Mexico, with the main destination being the United States.
Arias’s organization also uses social media to intimidate Costa Rican citizens by posting images of firearms, threatening messages to the public and governmental leaders, and videos of murders.
An image provided by the U.S. Department of State shows Alejandro Arias-Monge, also known as “Diablo.” U.S. Department of State
The DEA and Costa Rican authorities have uncovered criminal cells operated by Arias in all seven provinces of Costa Rica.
Arias is not the first Central American to face U.S. drug trafficking charges this year. A federal jury on Feb. 5 found Jorge Rubén Camargo-Clarke, alleged founder of Panama’s biggest drug federation, guilty of narcotics trafficking.
Known as “El Cholo Chorrillo” and “El Nene,” Camargo was
in a Los Angeles federal court of conspiring to distribute cocaine for the purpose of unlawful importation to the United States, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California, announced on Feb. 6.
Reuters contributed to this report.
