Costa Rica arrests 5 child welfare agency officials on charges they trafficked children for adoption

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica -- Five officials from Costa Rica's child welfare agency were arrested on charges they were involved in trafficking migrant children for the purpose of adoption, authorities said Wednesday.

Randall Zúñiga, head of the country’s main investigative agency, the Judicial Investigation Agency, said in a video statement that the case began in 2022 when the then-president of the child welfare agency reported irregularities in adoptions at one of the agency’s regional offices.

The arrested officials worked as lawyers and social workers.

“The investigation determined that these people included false information on reports they generated, for example saying that a family consumed drugs as a basis for removing that child from the family and being able to take it to a care center,” Zúñiga said.

Once they were in state care, the accused allegedly applied to adopt the children or to be assigned as their temporary caretakers and be paid by the government.

Authorities have not said how many children were involved or whether they have been located. Officials also did not specify where the migrant children were from.

The prosecutor’s office for human trafficking and migrant smuggling said it had requested that the officials be prevented from leaving the country. Costa Rican authorities issued an international arrest alert for a sixth official.