Costa Rica inaugurated the Center for High Containment of Organized Crime (CACCO), a new maximum-security prison, Wednesday in Alajuela Province as part of a national strategy to tighten control over high-risk inmates and reduce crime.

President Laura Fernández-Delgado officially opened the new prison, joined by senior government officials, including Public Security Minister Gerald Campos Valverde; Angie Cruickshank, the ombudswoman; Michael Soto, director of the Judicial Investigation Organization (OIJ); and Justice and Peace Minister Gabriel Aguilar.

During the inauguration ceremony, Fernández announced that the first inmate to be transferred to the facility would be a man suspected of murdering police officer Gerson Rosales. She also said all men serving prison sentences for murdering police officers would be transferred there.

“I want to ask the minister of justice to bring the man who murdered police officer Gerson Rosales to CACCO, along with all those who have killed Costa Rican police officers,” Fernández said.

According to the Ministry of Justice, approximately 2,500 inmates currently held in high-containment units at prisons across the country are among those scheduled for transfer to CACCO. The transfers are expected to take place during the remainder of October.

The new prison is modeled after El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT). Once completed, the facility is expected to accommodate more than 5,000 inmates in five buildings.

Authorities say it will house members of organized crime groups, violent offenders, inmates eligible for extradition, prisoners considered security risks and individuals requiring special protection.

Under the prison’s new uniform policy, inmates will wear bright orange uniforms. Additional security measures will include the use of shackles when transporting high-risk prisoners.

The prison’s construction budget was set at $35 million. The complex covers approximately 31,000 square meters of construction on a site spanning more than 90,000 square meters.

The jail includes central corridors with cells on both sides of each module, five medical offices, an administrative building, a main control post, seven guard towers, isolation cells, a warehouse, a waste management area, parking and housing for police officers, among other facilities.

The project comes as Costa Rica faces rising crime. The OIJ reported 600 homicides nationwide as of September 2026, just four fewer than during the same period in 2025.

Costa Rica currently operates 11 prisons housing approximately 17,000 inmates.

In January, then-President Rodrigo Chaves-Robles and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele-Ortez led the groundbreaking ceremony for the CACCO prison. Authorities said Bukele’s visit was significant due to his administration’s success in sharply reducing crime in El Salvador in recent years.

The Ministry of Justice and Peace is the state-owned organization that oversees the prison system in the country.

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