The U.S. Government donated the first two 33-foot patrol boats, made of aluminum, state-of-the-art technology, two 315 hp Yanmar diesel engines and Bravo X-1 drivers, allowing operations in coastal areas as shallow as 0.5 m (1 ft).
The two SAFE Defender 33-1 and 33-2 boats will be acquired at a cost of US$1.8 million, and will be delivered to the National Coast Guard Service in El Cocal, Puntarenas, in the presence of the President of the Republic, Laura Chinchilla Miranda and the Minister of Public Security, Mario Zamora. The donation also includes three weeks of training for local engineers and operators and a container with spare parts for both vessels, to meet the needs for one year. Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje (INA), in El Cocal, Puntarenas.
Two similar vessels are expected for operations in the Caribbean. It should be remembered that the chain of Specialized Border Police, previously established by Articles 23, 24 of the General Police Law, and Article 2 paragraph a) of the Law of Creation of the National Coast Guard Service, are constituted in Costa Rica. These laws specify that the three police bodies in charge of border security are the National Coast Guard Service (maritime borders and jurisdictional and internal waters of the State); the Air Surveillance Service (air borders and airports), and the Public Force (land borders). A couple of years ago, the Institutional Planning Office, through official letters No. 136-2008 and No. 152-2008 OPI, recommended the assignment of the surveillance and protection of land borders to the Regional Directorates of the Public Force that have jurisdiction over border areas, replacing what was then the Border Directorate.
As it is now known, Costa Rica is forming a specialized border police again, something that now concerns Mario Zamora, Costa Rican Minister of Security since last April. Zamora replaces José María Tijerino (JMH - Defensa.com).