(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-20 11:08

SAN JOSE - Costa Rican drug enforcement police have seized 740 kg of cocaine and arrested two suspected drug dealers, the Ministry of Public Security said Wednesday.

Acting on a tip-off that a batch of drugs was to be trafficked via sea routes from the Pacific coast city of Puntarenas to the United States, police set up check points on the Pan-American Highway and found the vehicle containing the drugs.

Police stopped the vehicle after a gunfight which injured one of the two suspected drug dealers, seizing 37 bags, or 740 kg of cocaine.

The two suspects have been arrested and are facing charges of cross-border drug trafficking.

Ministry of Public Security statistics show that in the past two years drug enforcement police have seized 60 tons of drugs, most of which were found on vessels in the Pacific Ocean.