corruption

Stolen tolls case appears stalled

It has been nearly three years since 30 people were fired from their jobs as toll collectors on the Arraiján-La Chorrera Highway, but since then little has changed on the road.

While those fired were supposed to face criminal charges for pocketing thousands of dollars, no trial has been set for those cases.

Meanwhile, security measures that were supposed to have been put in place to prevent other problems were never enacted.

The investigation started in April of 2005 when two detectives went undercover as toll collecters.

When police wrapped up their investigation, 30 people were fired and 17 of those faced criminal action.

A preliminary hearing on those cases was scheduled for Aug. 22, but was cancelled. A new date has not been announced.

As a result of the case, toll booth operators pledged to install security cameras, cash registers and other measures to ensure that tolls were being properly collected. As of today, however, those measures have not been put into place.