Costa Rica’s mega-prison receives first inmates

For context, a newly opened maximum-security mega-prison in Costa Rica has received its first batch of inmates.

Key points

• It witnessed a record-setting 905 homicides in 2023, followed by 876 in 2024 and 873 in 2025.
• The CACCO was built with the support of the Salvadoran administration on the outskirts of Costa Rica's capital, San Jose, at a cost of $35m.
• "Costa Rica is writing a new chapter in its penitentiary history, " Justice Minister Gabriel Aguilar remarked in an official note.
• A newly opened maximum-security mega-prison in Costa Rica has received its first batch of inmates.
• Right-wing leaders in other Latin American countries have additionally sought to replicate the mega-prison model.

For context, a newly opened maximum-security mega-prison in Costa Rica has received its first batch of inmates. The prison was built with the support of the Salvadoran administration on the outskirts of the capital, San Jose, the country's Justice Ministry confirmed.

Notably, the Costa Rican Justice Ministry shared images on Tuesday of 123 inmates dressed in orange, seated with their heads shaved and bowed and their hands behind their necks.

Notably, 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 5, 100 inmates.

Notably, the CACCO was built with the support of the Salvadoran administration on the outskirts of Costa Rica's capital, San Jose, at a cost of $35m. Fernandez inaugurated it on October 15.

"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 continued.

In practice, the new facility has a capacity equivalent to 20 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 over recent years experienced a sharp rise in violence linked to drug trafficking and organised crime. It witnessed a record-setting 905 homicides in 2023, followed by 876 in 2024 and 873 in 2025.

Authorities attribute most killings to disputes between criminal groups over drug trafficking routes and markets.

In short, costa Rica's mega is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.