Costa Rica transfers first 123 inmates to new mega-prison
Costa Rica’s Justice Ministry says 123 people have entered CACCO, a new maximum-security prison built to hold 5,100 inmates.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
2 min read
Costa Rica’s new maximum-security prison has received its first 123 prisoners, marking the first intake at the facility known as CACCO. The Costa Rica mega-prison inmates were transferred on October 27, according to the Justice Ministry, beginning operations at a site the government has presented as part of its tougher response to organized crime.
CACCO stands for the High-Containment Center Against Organized Crime. Reuters reported that the facility was built with assistance from El Salvador’s government on the outskirts of San José.
Images released by the ministry showed the 123 inmates wearing orange clothing, seated with shaved heads bowed and their hands behind their necks, Reuters and Al Jazeera reported. The reports did not identify the prisoners or state the offenses for which they were being held.
What is Costa Rica’s CACCO prison and how many people can it hold?
CACCO is a newly opened maximum-security prison designed to hold up to 5,100 inmates, Reuters and Al Jazeera reported. That capacity is equivalent to about 20% of Costa Rica’s prison population, according to the reports.
The initial group amounts to about 2.4% of the prison’s stated capacity, indicating that the transfer was an initial intake rather than a full opening. President Laura Fernández inaugurated the prison on October 15, Al Jazeera reported.
Justice Minister Gabriel Aguilar said CACCO would help ease overcrowding across the prison system and described it as a response to organized crime. Those are government aims; the available reports do not establish whether the new facility has reduced overcrowding or affected crime.
Why did Costa Rica build the new prison?
Fernández’s administration has framed CACCO as a symbol of a tougher-on-crime policy, Reuters reported. Authorities have linked much of the country’s violence to disputes between criminal groups over drug-trafficking routes and markets.
Al Jazeera reported that Costa Rica recorded 905 homicides in 2023, followed by 876 in 2024 and 873 in 2025. The prison’s construction cost $35 million, according to Al Jazeera.
The facility was built with Salvadoran government assistance, but the reports support no broader comparison of its operations with prisons in El Salvador beyond the resemblance of the ministry’s released images to images from that country’s detention system.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.