Jairo Mora Sandoval (March 22, 1987 – May 31, 2013) was a Costa Rican environmentalist who was murdered while attempting to protect leatherback turtle nests. Just before midnight on May 30, 2013, Mora and four female volunteers were abducted by a group of masked men. The women eventually escaped and informed the police. Mora's bound and beaten body was found on the beach the next morning. An autopsy determined he died by asphyxiation after suffering a blow to the head.
Sea turtles are protected by law in Costa Rica, but poaching remains common. Locals take eggs, which are believed to be an aphrodisiac, and sell them on the black market. The egg trade has been linked to drug trafficking and organized crime. Environmentalists working in Limón say they are often threatened for trying to protect turtle eggs. Jairo Mora was one such environmentalist working in the area.
In the wake of Mora's death, the organization he worked with cancelled beach patrol efforts in Costa Rica. His death attracted international attention, including a statement from the United Nations and multiple rewards for information on the case. In Costa Rica, his death led to calls for reform of environmental policy. On June 4, the government met with environmentalists to discuss potential changes to policy. A plan submitted by environmentalists and endorsed by Environment Minister René Castro would set up a new protected area and grant park rangers more authority to stop poachers, among other changes. On June 5, vigils were held across Costa Rica in honor of Mora. On June 18, the government announced the allocation of ₡20 million (US$40,000), which was later upped to ₡30 million (US$60,000), to memorialize Mora.
Costa Rica has a good reputation for wildlife conservation in general, and sea turtles have been protected by national legislation in Costa Rica since 1966. The country prides itself on its natural beauty and the nation's economy depends heavily on ecotourism. Tens of thousands of people visit the country every year to observe its sea turtles. The turtles of Costa Rica include the leatherback turtle, a critically endangered species.
The Marine Turtle Population Law of 2002 assigns a three-year prison sentence to anyone who "kills, hunts, captures, decapitates, or disturbs marine turtles". Even so, it is common for locals to harvest eggs for personal use or for sale in local bars due to supposed aphrodisiac qualities. A poacher can make up to $300 in one night, selling eggs for about $1 each on the black market. Eggs obtained from poaching are often sold to drug dealers or traded for drugs. Poachers are often armed, usually with knives, but sometimes with assault rifles. In the impoverished Limón area, locals claim that police are either colluding with, or afraid of, drug traffickers and poachers. Poaching has been cited as a major reason for declining sea turtle populations around the world.
Although poaching is not new, conservationists report that it is on the rise in Costa Rica. In the period leading up to Mora's death, poaching became an attractive side income for drug traffickers. In 2012, a group of six men used assault rifles and hand guns to break into a protected nursery run by the nonprofit environmentalist group Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST). The men tied up and gagged the volunteers, then smashed or stole a total 1520 sea turtle eggs. After the incident, police began accompanying environmentalists on their nightly beach walks. It was later revealed that the incident was intended as a warning for environmentalists to stay off the beaches, according to WIDECAST's Latin American director Didiher Chacón. According to Limón police chief Erick Calderón, 21 people were arrested in 2012 on charges related to turtle poaching.
Jairo Mora was a research assistant who worked for Paradero Eco-Tour, a state-sponsored animal rescue group run by Vanessa Lizano. He was born in Limón on March 22, 1987, to a Nicaraguan father and a Costa Rican mother. From an early age, he was involved in volunteer work.
Mora regularly volunteered with WIDECAST, which coordinates efforts to protect turtle eggs across Central America. Mora and other WIDECAST volunteers walked Costa Rican beaches nightly to ward off egg thieves. In 2011, the group protected about 3% of all turtle nests laid at Moín Beach in Costa Rica; in 2012, it increased to 30%. Conservation efforts on Moín Beach, which Mora headed, collected 1,500 leatherback turtle nests, the most from any beach in Costa Rica.
According to the owner of Paradero Eco Tours Vanessa Lizano, her organization often received threats from poachers because of its conservation efforts. In 2012, Mora was personally threatened at gunpoint "to back off and stop the walks". He and Lizano were also subject to intimidation efforts throughout the 2012 nesting season. "Both Jairo and I were being followed by motorbikes with guys carrying AK-47s," Lizano recalled. After a threat against her family, Lizano relocated from Limón to San José.
At the start of the 2013 leatherback turtle nesting season in April, police decreased their involvement with conservation efforts. Guards were on duty four days a week, but no longer personally escorted volunteers. On April 23, 2013, Mora asked supporters on Facebook to petition the police for more help. "Send messages to the police so they come to Moín Beach", he wrote. "Tell them not to be afraid but to come armed ... we need help and fast." On April 28, Mora told La Nación that environmentalists were being threatened "by a mafia that was looting the nests for eggs". According to friends, Mora received frequent death threats, including an incident just weeks before his death where he was threatened at gunpoint.
On May 5, La Nación accompanied Mora and Lizano on a typical night's work. Mora spoke about feeling alone and unprotected in his struggle to save the turtles. Denying reports that police had stepped up their efforts he said: "If a guard or policeman says he supports us, he is lying." La Nación confirmed that no police were assigned to patrol the beach that evening. When asked if he was afraid, Mora said "Yes, it's scary, the worst could happen at any time." After a May 6 incident where poachers stole a large number of nests, Limón police and the Coast Guard began patrolling Moín Beach more thoroughly.
On the evening of May 30, 2013, Mora and four female volunteers – three from the United States and one from Spain – were patrolling Moín Beach in Limón province, Costa Rica. At approximately 11:30 pm Mora stepped out of his jeep to move a tree trunk and was ambushed by at least five masked men carrying guns. The men drove the car with the four women to a nearby abandoned house and took their phones, money, and other belongings. Three of the men drove off with Mora. The women were tied up and left in an abandoned house; they eventually freed themselves and went to the police.
Five police officers were on duty the night of Mora's murder, and they had been in radio contact with him about an hour before his death. However, according to Calderón, the police were present to increase "the number of eyes and ears on the beach", not to protect the conservationists. He also noted that the beach is too large to constantly monitor all of it in the dark.
Mora's naked body was found on the beach the next morning. His body was found beaten and with his hands tied behind his back. Autopsy results revealed that he had died from asphyxiation after being struck in the back of the head, likely with an object found at the site of his murder. Earlier reports incorrectly stated he had been shot. Mora was 26 at the time of his death.
Judicial Investigation Police were unable to immediately determine a motive for Mora's death. Lizano suspects poachers were involved, saying Mora was targeted for protecting the turtle nests. Chacón said drug traffickers, who often are also poachers, were likely behind the killing. Given Mora's recent calls for police help, "it seems like it was an act of revenge", he said.