Drug network, including beauty salon, sanctioned for allegedly trafficking cocaine to U.S. through Costa Rica

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

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

"Shock and Noni are responsible for importing cocaine to Costa Rica, largely via maritime routes, and storing the cocaine at warehouses throughout the country," the U.S. Treasury said in a news release.

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

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

In December 2024, Shock was arrested in the U.K. and is currently being held pending a final decision on extradition to the U.S., according to the Treasury Department.  Last August, Noni was arrested in Costa Rica and is also being held pending a decision on extradition to the U.S.  

A taskforce between Homeland Security and Drug Enforcement Administration field offices as well as Costa Rica's Office of the Attorney General, and others worked to track down the sanctioned people and firms.

Among other things, the sanctions deny the people and firms access to any property or financial assets held in the U.S. and prevent U.S. companies and citizens from doing business with them.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said "the entire drug trafficking supply chain - from shipping facilitators to money launderers - bears responsibility for American addictions and deaths," in announcing the sanctions.

Thursday's sanctions are part of a larger Trump administration pursuit of the drug trade in the Caribbean.

The U.S. military has conducted a series of deadly strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and 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 strike in December at a docking area believed to have been used by drug cartels.

Additionally, the Trump administration struck a deal with Costa Rica early last year during U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit, where Costa Rica agreed to hold U.S. deportees in detention facilities for the Trump administration while it organized the return back to their countries.

Last June, the U.S. sanctioned six accused drug traffickers who allegedly using boats and "narco subs" to traffic cocaine. Four Guyanese nationals and two Colombians were sanctioned for allegedly trafficking tons of cocaine from South America to the United States, Europe and the Caribbean.