Costa Rican authorities extradited José Johnny Angulo Fernández to Italy yesterday, making him the first Costa Rican citizen sent to Europe under the country’s new extradition rules. Angulo, also known as “John Cadenas,” is wanted by Italian authorities on drug trafficking charges and for alleged ties to the ’Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia group considered one of Italy’s most powerful criminal organizations. Costa Rican authorities said the Italian investigation links him to cocaine shipments sent from Costa Rica to Europe.
Michael Soto, interim director of Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency, said Angulo allegedly received drug shipments in the southern part of Costa Rica, stored them in the Pacific region, then moved them to the Caribbean for shipment to Europe. According to Soto, Angulo had been detained in Costa Rica since July 2025 before the extradition was carried out this week.
The extradition took place at Juan Santamaría International Airport under heavy security. Angulo was placed on a commercial flight and escorted by Italian agents, according to local reporting. The case marks another major step in Costa Rica’s shift on extradition. Until last year, Costa Rican citizens were generally protected from being handed over to foreign courts.
A constitutional reform approved in 2025 now allows nationals to be extradited in cases involving drug trafficking and terrorism. Angulo is the third Costa Rican extradited under the reform. The first two were former security minister and former magistrate Celso Gamboa and Edwin López Vega, known as “Pecho de Rata,” who were sent to the United States on March 20 to face drug trafficking charges.
Gamboa’s extradition drew national attention because of his former government and judicial posts. Reuters reported at the time that the case marked Costa Rica’s first extradition of its own nationals, following the 2025 reform aimed at confronting organized crime and drug trafficking.
The Angulo case also highlights Costa Rica’s growing role in international drug routes. Authorities have repeatedly described the country as a logistics point where cocaine shipments from South America are received, stored and later sent toward North America and Europe.
Costa Rica has faced rising pressure from organized crime in recent years, with authorities linking much of our country’s recent violence to disputes among drug trafficking groups. The extradition of Angulo to Italy shows that Costa Rica’s new legal framework is now being used not only for U.S. cases, but also for European prosecutions tied to transnational crime.
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