Costa Rica opens mega-prison as organized crime fight intensifies
The 5,100-bed facility is modeled on El Salvador’s CECOT and is meant to stop inmates from directing criminal operations from prison.
- On Wednesday, President Laura Fernández inaugurates Costa Rica's new maximum-security prison, the Centro de Alta Contención y Crimen Organizado , though the facility will not receive inmates today.
- Costa Rica built the facility in San Rafael de Alajuela using designs from El Salvador's Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo , with construction starting in January but missing the July 27 completion deadline.
- Spanning 90,846 square meters, the site represents a $34.5 million investment by the Justice Ministry and holds capacity for about 5,100 inmates across five housing modules with cells built for 60 inmates each.
- Legal challenges before the Constitutional Chamber question whether the prison's strict regulations comply with Costa Rican law, while the Ombudsman's Office warns that inmate placements cannot depend on political impulses.
- Justice and Peace Minister Gabriel Aguilar plans to begin transferring inmates at the end of this month, though the Attorney General's Office is investigating him for alleged abuse of authority.
125 Articles
125 Articles
The President of El Salvador is celebrating success in the fight against organised crime, but that has its price.
Santa Maria Times
Los Angeles TimesSAN SALVADOR (AP) — Costa Rica's president, Laura Fernández, will arrive Friday in El Salvador to meet with President Nayib Bukele and visit the facilities of a maximum security prison where gang members are being held...
Costa Rica opens a Bukele-style mega-prison
Costa Rica has made fighting drug trafficking a main goal, inspired by El Salvador's hardline approachBy Javier Córdoba (AP) and María Verza (AP)October 14, 2026SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica -- SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica (AP) — Costa Rica, considered for decades a peaceful enclave in turbulent Central America, has now made fighting drug trafficking one of its main goals. And it is turning to one of its Central American neighbors for inspiration in its hardline…
Costa Rica Opens High-Security Prison Modeled on El Salvador’s Notorious CECOT
Costa Rica has opened a new high-security prison designed to hold more than 5,000 prisoners. It’s modeled after the notorious CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador, where prisoners are denied due process and face torture, violence, medical neglect and other serious human rights abuses. On Wednesday, Costa Rica’s right-wing populist President Laura Fernández inaugurated the High-Containment Center Against Organized Crime, or CACCO, near the capital Sa…
CACCO, with five modules with 17 cells measuring 90 m2, will house 5,100 prisoners
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