26 May 1981 · Hidden in vehicles
A Costa Rican diplomat's Ford Escort at Checkpoint Charlie
A urologist from San José who had studied medicine in Halle tried to use his diplomatic passport to drive an East German woman out in his boot – for a promised 10,000 Deutschmarks.
At about 10.45 p.m. on 26 May 1981 a Costa Rican citizen, born in 1944, a urologist from San José holding a Costa Rican diplomatic passport, tried to take a woman from the GDR hidden in the boot of his Ford Escort through the Friedrichstraße/Zimmerstraße crossing into West Berlin. According to the Stasi he had been promised 10,000 DM.
He had studied medicine at the Martin Luther University in Halle from 1965 to 1972, trained as a specialist in West Berlin until 1977 and served in 1978–79 as a counsellor at Costa Rica's embassy in West Germany. The Stasi proposed informing the Costa Rican authorities through the GDR foreign ministry.
Sources
- Jahrgang 1981: Verhinderte Ausschleusung einer DDR-Bürgerin durch einen Bürger Costa Ricas – Information Nr. 271/81, 27 May 1981Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)
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