First Inmates Arrive at Costa Rica's $35m Mega-Prison, Built to House 5,100 Near San Jose
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.
On Tuesday the Justice Ministry shared images of 123 inmates dressed in orange, seated with their heads shaved and bowed and their hands behind their necks.
Justice Minister Gabriel Aguilar said in a statement, 'Costa Rica is writing a new chapter in its penitentiary history.'
The new prison is called the High-Containment Center Against Organized Crime (CACCO). It is presented as a symbol of a new 'tough on crime' approach championed by President Laura Fernandez's administration. It has a capacity for 5,100 inmates.
The CACCO was built at a cost of $35m. Fernandez inaugurated it on October 15. The statement added, '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.'
According to Aguilar, the new facility has a capacity equivalent to 20 percent of the country's prison population. It will also help reduce overcrowding in the prison system, he said.
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 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. Right-wing leaders in other Latin American countries have also sought to replicate the mega-prison model.
