Back again with more police talk. Today it’s about the way they take things into their own hands. I’ll give you two examples:

First. In Puerto Viejo de Talamanca there was a bar on the beach owned by a husband and wife who were known to be heavily involved in the sale of illegal drugs. The police were finally able to get the husband thrown in jail, but the wife remained in control of the bar and allegedly continued selling drugs.

Because the bar was within the 50-meter-zone of the ocean the police knew that the owners would be unable to re-build should anything happen to their property. (Unless grandfathered in, no buildings are allowed in the 50-meter-zone.) So, unofficially, the police set fire to the bar, permanently eliminating their problem.

Second. This one happened this week in Manuel Antonio. Another bar was in the 50-meter-zone. It was the most popular hang-out for young people. They had a great dance floor and quite an operation going. But, again, the police torched it, knowing it couldn’t be re-built. Such a shame. It was a lot of fun and the bar had been there a long time. It was also a restaurant. Hanging out at sunset and having a really inexpensive dinner was a part of my regular routine there. I never heard of drugs being an issue there, but I honestly don’t know.

I guess what I’m saying is that the police do what they want to do, when it’s in their favor. God knows we couldn’t get them to do anything about the theft of the wallet (and cell phone and many other things) of a client who was here…even though there were witnesses and they knew who the thief was!