Udrea and Bica, arrested in Costa Rica

Elena Udrea and Alina Bica are said to have been arrested in Costa Rica after the local police enforced a request of Interpol, the website sitiooij.poder-judicial.go.cr informs.

Members of the Judicial Investigation Agency, affiliated to Interpol National Central Bureau in Costa Rica, in collaboration with officers of the Intelligence and National Security Directorate (DIS), after investigations, surveillance and monitoring have detained two Romanian women aged 44, at the request of the Romanian authorities, the quoted source informs.

A Red Notice in Interpol database has been received for one of the women, surname Udrea, for bribe-taking and abuse of office, that were issued by Interpol Bucharest. This woman has been arrested on a public avenue, around 10:00hrs, in the Sabana Oeste district.

For the other woman, called Bica, there was also received a Red Notice in Interpol database for committing bribe-taking and acts of corruption, also issued by Interpol Bucharest. She was arrested around 14:00hrs on a public avenue of the Sabana Este district.

Both women have been placed under the orders of a Criminal Court of San Jose.

Elena Udrea has been convicted to six years in prison in the "Gala Bute" case for bribe-taking and abuse of office, but she fled Romania, requesting political asylum in Costa Rica.

The Press Office of the Inspectorate General of the Romanian Police (IGPR) subsequently confirmed that Elena Udrea and Alina Bica have been detained on the night of Wednesday to Thursday in Costa Rica.

Elena Udrea is a former tourism minister and Alina Bica is a former head of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT). AGERPRES (RO - editor: Alic Mirza; author: Daniel Alexandru Florea, editor: Claudia Stanescu; EN - author: Rodica State, editor: Adina Panaitescu)