President Laura Fernandez inaugurated the $۳۵m mega-prison built to house up to ۵,۱۰۰ inmates near San Jose.
Published On ۲۸ Oct ۲۰۲۶
A newly opened maximum-security mega-prison in Costa Rica has received its first batch of inmates. The prison was built with the help of the Salvadoran government on the outskirts of the capital, San Jose, the country’s Justice Ministry announced.
The Costa Rican Justice Ministry shared images on Tuesday of ۱۲۳ inmates dressed in orange, seated with their heads shaved and bowed and their hands behind their necks.
Recommended Stories
list of ۴ itemsend of list
“Costa Rica is writing a new chapter in its penitentiary history,” Justice Minister Gabriel Aguilar said in a statement.
The new prison is called the High-Containment Center Against Organized Crime (CACCO) and constitutes a symbol of a new “tough on crime” approach championed by President Laura Fernandez’s administration. It has a capacity for ۵,۱۰۰ inmates.
The CACCO was built with the help of the Salvadoran government on the outskirts of Costa Rica’s capital, San Jose, at a cost of $۳۵m. Fernandez inaugurated it on October ۱۵.
“CACCO is a monument to national security, a forceful response to organized crime, and a guarantee that the state will exercise its authority without hesitation,” the statement added.
The new facility has a capacity equivalent to ۲۰ percent of the country’s prison population and “will also help reduce overcrowding in the prison system”, according to Aguilar.
Costa Rica, long regarded as one of the safest countries in Latin America, has in recent years experienced a sharp rise in violence linked to drug trafficking and organised crime. It witnessed a record-setting ۹۰۵ homicides in ۲۰۲۳, followed by ۸۷۶ in ۲۰۲۴ and ۸۷۳ in ۲۰۲۵.
Authorities attribute most killings to disputes between criminal groups over drug trafficking routes and markets.
Right-wing leaders in other Latin American countries have also sought to replicate the mega-prison model.
