Between late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, the Immigration Police detained seven Costa Rica escorts who had apparently obtained their residency cards by illegal means. The raid involved a sweep local bars and clubs in search of any illegal aliens.

According to InsideCostaRica, one home that was raided ran classes for prostitutes, who were brought in from the Dominican Republic, Colombia and Nicaragua, and many were married to Costa Ricans they never met to gain residency.

The group of men and women from the Dominican Republic that ran the school were apparently charging thousands of dollars for women to take the classes. Once a woman graduated, the residency process would be taken care of and they were put to work on the streets as Costa Rica escorts.

Police officials spoke with over 50 other women in Jaco and will be reviewing the legal status of nine in particular who they believe are working illegally as Costa Rican escorts. The majority of these women were from the Dominican Republic, which came as a suprise to immigration officials.

One woman said the school would charge $3,500 to come to Costa Rica for the classes. Anyone without a Costa Rican visa would go to Nicaragua or Panama first to enter the country.

While prostitution is legal in Costa Rica, the illegal immigration of women to the country to become prostitutes is a huge concern for immigration officials.

Director of Immigration Mauricio Zamora explained that with Costa Rican residency, which many of the women are close to obtaining, they can travel throughout the European Union without a visa. If the trend gets out of control, those countries could end up placing travel restrictions on all Costa Rican residents. Residency status in Costa Rica is also valuable because Costa Ricans are more eligible for visas to the United States than most other Central American and Caribbean countries.

Zamora said that one possible solution would be to define stricter laws prohibiting organized marriages, which is a common tactic used by foreigners to obtain residency in Costa Rica.

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Filed under: Nightlife on October 26th, 2007