Costa Rica has locked up the first 123 inmates in a new mega-prison built with the help of the Salvadoran government on the outskirts of the capital, San José, the country's justice ministry said on Tuesday, October 27.

Source: Reuters, Oct 27, 2026 — first inmates arrive at Costa Rica mega-prison

The ministry shared images showing rows of inmates dressed in orange, seated with shaved heads bowed and their hands behind their necks, in poses resembling photographs from El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), the mega-prison where President Nayib Bukele's government holds tens of thousands of gang members and suspected gang affiliates, Reuters reported.

The maximum-security prison is called the High Containment Center against Organized Crime (CACCO). It has been presented by the government of President Laura Fernandez as a symbol of a new “tough on crime” approach championed by her administration in response to a security crisis facing Costa Rica, once one of the most peaceful countries in the Western Hemisphere.

“Costa Rica is writing a new chapter in its penitentiary history,” Justice Minister Gabriel Aguilar said in a statement. “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.” Aguilar has said the new facility will also help reduce overcrowding in the prison system.

The prison has a capacity for 5,100 inmates, equivalent to 20% of the country's prison population. Al Jazeera reported the facility was built at a cost of $35 million — yaani, about 3.5 crore US dollars — and that Fernandez inaugurated it on October 15.

Source: Al Jazeera — Costa Rica's mega-prison receives first inmates

Why Costa Rica built it

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 organized crime. Al Jazeera put the homicide count at a record 905 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, Reuters reported.

The first intake of 123 inmates is only a small fraction of the new prison's 5,100 capacity. The reports did not give a timetable for further transfers, and the government has presented CACCO as the centrepiece of its response to organized crime and prison overcrowding.