The United States has cancelled the U.S. visas of 22 Costa Rican immigration inspectors who worked in the nation's Juan Santamaria International Airport, the U.S. embassy in San Jose said

Wednesday.

"Those who have sold immigration stamps with false dates to fake trips to and from the United States, thereby facilitating other migratory crimes, are ineligible for a U.S. visa. The embassy has annulled several visas for this reason in recent years," the embassy said.

"We have information that some of them put their official stamps in a suitcase and went to the U.S. to contact Costa Ricans there," it added.

Costa Rica's immigration general director Mario Zamora said the officials sold stamps in both Costa Rica and the U.S. which made it appear migrants had returned home before their U.S. visas expired, when in fact they were staying longer than allowed.

Another immigration official said that the officers were selling each seal for between 100 and 150 U.S. dollars.

The officers represent 19 percent of the airport immigration staff, Zamora said, adding that they would face disciplinary investigations.

Zamora said the U.S. had been "key to stopping a secret business that had been operating for quite some time."

Source: Xinhua