A known assailant of tourists has been spotted here again after repeated deportations to his home country of Colombia, police said.

José Alvaro Castilblanco, who police say specializes in assaulting tourists by puncturing their car's tires and robbing them around such visitor hotspots as Irazú Volcano or Playa Jacó, was seen last week in San José, Immigration Police Chief Francisco Castaing said.

Police informants say Castilblanco has changed his appearance and might now have blond hair, said Castaing, who added that police are investigating the bandit's whereabouts.

Costa Rica has deported the Colombian three times, Castaing said.

Police deported Castilblanco in February 2007, but on his way out the tourist attacker mocked this country's justice system, calling Costa Rica is a criminal's paradise and promising to return.

“He said this country is a joke” in terms of outsmarting the law, according to the police chief.

Castaing added that this country's laws need to be tightened to keep Castilblanco, who has also committed burglaries as far afield as Spain and Indonesia, in jail.

“He's a crime traveler,” Castaing said.

Therefore, he explained, Colombia won't steak him out, “because he doesn't commit crimes at home.”