According to the Ministry of Public Security, Costa Rica seized 43.5 tons of drugs and arrested over 190,000 offense suspects in 2023.

Of the total narcotics seized, there were 21 tons of cocaine and 22.5 tons of marijuana.

Among those arrested, 95,000 were suspected of drug trafficking, 57,000 of crimes, 7,200 of violating gun control laws, and 6,500 of having open arrest warrants.

Last year, the police conducted tens of hundreds of raids, resulting in the arrest of suspects and the confiscation of narcotics, as well as the seizure of 7,800 weapons and 2,300 firearms.

Recently, authorities destroyed over 2,000 firearms (including pistols, revolvers and rifles.

 

To lower the crime rate, the ministry launched a new security strategy called Safe Costa Rica 2023-2030 National Public Security Plan. The initiative aims to reduce the murder rate per 100,000 people to 9.5 by 2030.

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