San José Municipal Police officers said the business will remain closed and be handed over to the Public Ministry for the time being. However, the OIJ indicated that the suspect would take a 50 percent chunk of the money earned by the women in his establishment, which violates the country’s pimping laws. Since prostitution not a criminal activity in Costa Rica, there’s nothing illegal about that first part.
The suspect owned the pension and would host prostitutes in his bar and massage rooms to offer sexual services in exchange for money. The 60-year-old owner of the long-running New Fantasy was subsequently arrested on pimping charges, according to the Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ). The once-thriving hotbed of massage parlors and hookup bars in downtown San José saw another business shuttered Thursday afternoon after police raided the New Fantasy massage parlor in San José’s historic Barrio Amón district. “Gringo Gulch” is getting smaller by the day.
