SAN JOSE, Dec 28 — Costa Rican authorities yesterday seized a boat carrying 500kg of cocaine and arrested five suspected traffickers, the government said.

They moved on the vessel, 81km from Golfito on the southern Pacific coast, after a tipoff from US authorities who carried out a joint patrol with the Central American nation.

Two Colombians, an Ecuadoran, a Nicaraguan and a Costa Rican were detained.

The Public Safety Ministry said authorities found the drugs in individual packets of about one kilogram each.

Colombia is the world’s largest producer of cocaine, and the main supplier to the United States market.

Minister of Public Safety Michael Soto said the Pacific Ocean region is "very much used to move drugs from the South.” — AFP