A long time San Jose brothel was raided yesterday by agents of the judicial investigative police, and the businesses administrator was arrested in an apparent sing operation. The squat gray home identified only the numbers 7 - 4 - 7 was the scene where two Costa Rican and two Nicaraguan women were discovered working as prostitutes.
The Pension 747 has been in continuous operation for more than a decade, and is described on Internet sex tourists maps going back to 1997.
Normally these kinds of establishments stay out of the limelight by eschewing promotion and catering to local clientele. Even the prominent street number is a “covert signal” in country where there is no objective postal address or street numbering system.
While prostitution is not illegal in Costa Rica, activity that can be best described as pimping is illegal. Successful prosecutions are rare, and while high profile arrests generate media attention the persons detained are usually turned loose after questioning and the business will reopen the next day.
According to local news coverage in this case the judicial investigative police received statements from several of the prostitutes and undertook an operation where police used marked currency to demonstrate the handling of money.
The recent raid illustrates how the lower end establishments, especially those in the infamous Zona Roja where full service sex costs less than $15 may not be allowed to escape attention.
The recent police raid at Hotel Little Havana, which caters to sex tourists from the United States and where a short time session costs $50 has always been a popular whipping post for the local media.
It’s unlikely that the current pressure can actually shutter these places for good as city authorities and national police lack the fundamental legal framework to close the underlying businesses. New legislation would be needed to really combat prostitution and sex tourism.
This point was made clear when the now famous 2008 Police Sweep failed to bring down high profile places like Hotel Little Havana and New Fantasy.
Finally, the raid at 747 hasn’t seem to affect business at the adjacent Cha Cha Cha, which is the bright purple colored building just next door which managed to elude the highly organized sting operation. This place along with dozes of other locations in the Zona Roja are still open for business.
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