SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – Residents in surburbs of this Central American capital are refusing to live near two Mexicans who have been granted house arrest while a court deals with allegations they are drug traffickers.
In the latest uproar, people in a San Jose suburb staged a protest Tuesday that blocked a third try by authorities to find a residence for the suspects. The pair remain in jail.
The two men, whose full names have not been released, were arrested in October after police found 390 pounds (177 kilograms) of cocaine in a small plane they allegedly were flying and crashed into a river.
A judge granted them house arrest two weeks ago because prosecutors still had not filed charges.
Last week, residents of a luxury apartment building in a suburb west of San Jose canceled a rental contract for the men after discovering they are alleged drug traffickers. The move-in was suspended.
Officials then tried a residence in a suburb north of the capital, but people there took to the streets to protest against having the suspects in their neighborhood.
On Tuesday, the mayor of suburban Moravia northeast of San Jose, alerted his constituents that authorities planned to put the alleged traffickers in their town.
About 20 protesters joined Mayor Juan Pablo Hernandez outside the house that apparently had been rented for the suspects. One of the signs residents carried read "Narcos out."
"We ask judicial authorities to think about how this will affect a quite community like this one," Hernandez said.
Officials backed off again, and the court will consider the suspects' situation Wednesday.
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