Costa Rica transfers first inmates to new mega-prison inspired by El Salvador's CECOT

Costa Rica’s justice ministry announced on Tuesday that the country has transferred its first 123 inmates into a newly constructed mega-prison located on the outskirts of the capital, San José, built with assistance from the Salvadoran government.Images released by the ministry show rows of prisoners in orange seated with shaved heads bowed and hands behind their necks. The poses mirror photographs from El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), the mega-prison where President Nayib Bukele's government detains tens of thousands of gang members and suspected affiliates.The maximum security facility, officially titled the High Containment Center against Organized Crime (CACCO), has been presented by the government of President Laura Fernández as a symbol of a new "tough on crime" stance in response to an ongoing security crisis facing the nation.Inmates sit on the floor with their hands on their heads after being transferred to the Center for High Containment of Organized Crime (Reuters)"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 noted that the facility will also help ease overcrowding across the country's penal system.(Reuters)The facility has room for 5,100 inmates, representing 20% of the national prison population. Long considered one of the safest countries in the Western Hemisphere, Costa Rica has recently seen a sharp escalation in violence tied to drug trafficking and organized crime. Following a record number of homicides in 2023, figures have stabilized, with authorities attributing most deaths to rival criminal groups fighting over drug routes and markets.