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Costa Rica pledges to tighten security

Costa Rican authorities pledged Tuesday to increase police patrols in a Caribbean resort town after a U.S. tourist in his 70s killed a mugger with his bare hands there last week.
/ Source: The Associated Press

Costa Rican authorities pledged Tuesday to increase police patrols in a Caribbean resort town after a there last week.

Officials said they planned to double the number of police on patrol during stopovers by cruise ships in the port city of Limon, a surfing, fishing and diving destination. Officials also plan to install security cameras around the city and have police to keep a closer eye on vehicles carrying tourists.

Last week, three armed assailants held up a bus ferrying about a dozen tourists from a docked cruise ship to a beach. A retired member of the American military put one of the attackers in a headlock, breaking his collarbone, officials said.

The would-be mugger, Warner Segura, 20, was later declared dead, apparently from asphyxiation.

Police did not press charges, and the unidentified American tourist was allowed to return to his cruise ship to finish his vacation.

A spokeswoman for Costa Rica’s Tourism Ministry, Marcela Villalobos, said that between October and February some 40 cruise ships dropped off a total of 85,000 tourists in Limon. Over the same period, four security incidents were reported to authorities.

Tourism is Costa Rica’s biggest source of income, generating $1.6 billion last year.