Costa Rica opens mega-prison as it steps up fight against organized crime

SAN JOSE - Costa Rica inaugurated a maximum-security prison on Wednesday as it stepped up its fight against organized crime after a surge in killings in what was long one of Latin America's safest countries.

President Laura Fernandez opened the High-Containment Center Against Organized Crime, or CACCO, a prison modeled on El Salvador's mega-prison and a key element of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele's anti-gang crackdown. The facility near the capital of San Jose has a capacity for 5,100 inmates, roughly 20% of the nation's current prison population.

Costa Rica recorded an all-time high of 905 homicides in 2023, according to judicial data. Killings eased only slightly to 876 in 2024 and 873 in 2025, remaining well above earlier levels. Authorities have said most murders are linked to disputes among criminal groups over drug trafficking routes and local markets.

"The CACCO will force criminals to face a new model—a tough-on-crime model. Costa Rica will become a global benchmark for prison security," Fernandez said during the inauguration ceremony.

The president also announced a visit to El Salvador on Friday.

Bukele's crackdown is widely credited with sharply reducing gang violence in El Salvador, but rights groups say it has also brought mass arbitrary detentions, due process violations and an erosion of democratic safeguards.

Fernandez said the new prison's impact would depend in part on the judiciary securing more convictions. Her government has clashed with judicial authorities over crime policy and budget cuts, while judges and prosecutors have warned against pressure on democratic checks and balances.

Justice Minister Gabriel Aguilar has presented CACCO as part of a broader effort to reassert state control over the prison system, which he says has been infiltrated by organized crime. The first transfers to the prison will take place at the end of October.

Fernandez recently told Reuters that greater US security presence would help Costa Rica confront drug trafficking and organized crime, although current coordination remains focused on patrols, investigations and extradition efforts.

- Alvaro Murillo and Diego Ore; Writing by Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani/Reuters