INTERNATIONAL EXTRADITION · CENTRAL AMERICA
Extradition from Costa Rica to the United States.
Extradition Treaty between the United States and Costa Rica controls the request. The treaty permits refusal when the person is a national of the requested state. The arrest clock and local review path decide what happens next.
THE SHORT ANSWER
In force No official general timeline. DOJ examples show arrests and extraditions separated by months or years, especially where appeals occur.
Extradition Treaty between the United States and Costa Rica
Effective: 1991-10-11
WHAT COUNSEL CHECKS FIRST
The active paper. The country. The clock.
THE RESPONSE ROOM
What has to be established first.
FIRST HOURS
Identify the legal basis for custody
Record the arresting authority, court, case number, custody location, interpreter need, and any hearing date. Ask for counsel before discussing the foreign accusation.
WHO DECIDES
The local record controls
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs transmits the request; the Attorney General/prosecutor presents it to the competent criminal court. The court decides extraditability, after which the executive branch coordinates surrender. Under amended Article 32, only courts may grant extradition of a Costa Rican national in the specified drug-trafficking or terrorism categories.
THE CLOCK
Deadlines are event-specific
Urgent provisional arrest is available. The formal request and documents must be received within 60 days or release may be ordered; later rearrest remains possible. No official general timeline. DOJ examples show arrests and extraditions separated by months or years, especially where appeals occur.
DOCUMENT AUDIT
Build the file before the argument
Preserve the notice or warrant, charging papers, identity records, release terms, travel documents, medical records, and every dated communication. Do not alter or delete evidence.
FOR FAMILIES COORDINATING ACROSS BORDERS
Confirm the exact legal name, detention location, medication needs, next hearing, local lawyer, and one reliable contact channel. A consulate may assist with welfare and contact; it cannot cancel the local case.
02 · THE PROCESS
How the Costa Rica process moves.
Judicial and executive stages
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs transmits the request; the Attorney General/prosecutor presents it to the competent criminal court. The court decides extraditability, after which the executive branch coordinates surrender. Under amended Article 32, only courts may grant extradition of a Costa Rican national in the specified drug-trafficking or terrorism categories.
Appeal and review
The criminal-procedure appeal and constitutional amparo/habeas corpus routes may be available depending on the ruling and detention issue.
03 · DEFENSES
The request still has to survive the record.
ISSUE
Treaty coverage
The charged conduct, punishment threshold, documents, and identity must fit the controlling treaty and local implementing law.
ISSUE
Dual criminality
Yes; conduct punishable in both states by more than one year is extraditable.
ISSUE
Political and protected offenses
Political and purely military offenses are excluded, with specified violent/multilateral offenses outside the political exception. The treaty has a death-penalty clause and addresses prior jeopardy/limitations. Fiscal offenses meeting dual criminality are not a categorical exception.
ISSUE
Evidence and process
The request can be tested against the treaty standard, authentication requirements, limitation rules, and procedural guarantees that apply locally.
ISSUE
Human rights and punishment
Costa Rica abolished the death penalty. Treaty Article 5 permits refusal unless adequate assurances address capital punishment. Constitutional due process, humane treatment, health and non-refoulement can also matter.
ISSUE
Specialty and assurances
Yes, subject to consent and treaty exceptions.
04 · PUBLIC EXAMPLES
Recent public extradition records.
These examples come from public government records and are not presented as Spodek Law Group matters or results.
Roger Roger
mail/wire fraud and international money laundering
Thomas Sniffen
mail/wire fraud and international money laundering in sweepstakes scheme
John White
conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud
Celso Manuel Gamboa Sanchez and Edwin Danny Lopez Vega
international cocaine manufacturing/distribution conspiracies
Keith Anderson
tax-fraud and money-laundering conspiracies
05 · THE CHARGES
What appears in the requests.
A Red Notice is not the extradition order.
A Red Notice asks police worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person, subject to each country's law. It is not an international arrest warrant, and it does not replace the treaty papers or the local extradition case.
The notice, the provisional-arrest request, and the surrender proceeding are separate records. Each can carry different defects, deadlines, and remedies.
07 · THIRD-COUNTRY RISK
Transit can expose a person to another country's arrest rules, immigration powers, or provisional request. This page gives no route or evasion advice. Review the actual warrant, notice, release conditions, and jurisdictions with counsel before travel.
08 · QUESTIONS
What families and targets ask first.
IMMEDIATE EXTRADITION QUESTIONS
It can. Border screening may expose a national warrant, INTERPOL data, immigration authority, or a provisional request under another country's law. This is not travel or evasion advice; the actual records and jurisdictions require review before travel.
AUTHORITIESwww.interpol.int
Release depends on Costa Rica's current law, the arrest authority, flight-risk findings, and the stage of the request. No general website answer can predict it. Local counsel should address custody while U.S. counsel verifies the federal matter and request.
AUTHORITIESwww.justice.gov
Not automatically. Extradition, asylum, immigration removal, and non-refoulement are separate legal systems that may interact. The forum, protected status, alleged conduct, treaty, and current human-rights evidence determine which arguments are available.
AUTHORITIESwww.justice.gov
COUNTRY PROCEDURE
Yes. Extradition Treaty between the United States and Costa Rica is in force; the stated effective date is 1991-10-11. Always verify treaty status with the U.S. State Department/Office of International Affairs for a live case.
AUTHORITIESwww.congress.govwww.govinfo.gov
The treaty permits refusal when the person is a national of the requested state. Costa Rica's recent reform to Constitution Article 32 now permits courts to extradite Costa Rican nationals in international drug-trafficking and terrorism cases, with strict fundamental-rights and procedural guarantees. For other offenses, the constitutional protection against compelled removal remains controlling.
AUTHORITIESwww.congress.govpgrweb.go.cr
Yes; conduct punishable in both states by more than one year is extraditable.
AUTHORITIESwww.congress.govwww.congress.gov
Urgent provisional arrest is available. The formal request and documents must be received within 60 days or release may be ordered; later rearrest remains possible.
AUTHORITIESwww.congress.govwww.justice.gov
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs transmits the request; the Attorney General/prosecutor presents it to the competent criminal court. The court decides extraditability, after which the executive branch coordinates surrender. Under amended Article 32, only courts may grant extradition of a Costa Rican national in the specified drug-trafficking or terrorism categories.
AUTHORITIESpgrweb.go.crwww.justice.gov
The criminal-procedure appeal and constitutional amparo/habeas corpus routes may be available depending on the ruling and detention issue.
AUTHORITIESpgrweb.go.cr
Costa Rica abolished the death penalty. Treaty Article 5 permits refusal unless adequate assurances address capital punishment. Constitutional due process, humane treatment, health and non-refoulement can also matter.
AUTHORITIESwww.congress.govwww.congress.gov
No. A Red Notice is a request to locate and provisionally arrest, not an international arrest warrant or a judicial finding of extraditability. Domestic law and the treaty still control arrest and surrender.
AUTHORITIESwww.interpol.int
Yes, subject to consent and treaty exceptions.
AUTHORITIESwww.congress.govwww.congress.gov
No official general timeline. DOJ examples show arrests and extraditions separated by months or years, especially where appeals occur.
AUTHORITIESwww.justice.govwww.justice.gov
10 · SOURCES
Every material claim should have a file behind it.
11 · REGIONAL INDEX
Related country files.
WHO REVIEWS THE FIRST CALL
Start with the paper, the posture, and the first deadline.
Todd A. Spodek leads the firm's federal defense work. The team identifies the active U.S. matter, the country and custody posture, and where appropriately licensed local counsel is required. No webpage can replace review of the actual request.
Todd Spodek - biography and record →SECURE CONSULTATION REQUEST
Put the actual extradition record in front of counsel.
Tell us whether this is an inquiry, Red Notice, detention, hearing, or appeal. The intake team will identify conflicts and the right next step. Urgent custody and hearing matters should call.
212 300 5196 - urgent matters →