Organized crime is at the center of the Costa Rican agenda, and even The Wall Street Journal highlighted it last week. The country known as a “bastion of democracy” in Central America is going through difficult times, with the president and the Judiciary blaming each other for the growth of criminal groups.
With 453 homicides in the first seven months of the year, Costa Rica maintains a high murder rate, considering it has a population of 5 million inhabitants. Crimes are concentrated in the province of Limón, where a port has concentrated the efforts of criminal gangs.
The report recently published by The Wall Street Journal points out that homicides in Costa Rica have increased by 50% since 2020. With this, it now reaches a murder rate comparable to that of Mexico: in recent years, it reached estimated rates between 16.8 and 17 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. The North American country, for its part, records a national rate of 15.4.
This increase in murders is linked to the growth of international criminal organizations. Thus, Costa Rica is at a node of cocaine routes, which are produced in South America and reach the United States and Europe by leaving on ships from the Central American country.
According to the U.S. State Department, since 2020 Costa Rica has become the main transit point for cocaine destined for the United States and Europe. Last year, local authorities announced the dismantling of a network that sent cocaine in containers of frozen cassava.
This crime and drug trafficking crisis began to be noticed in 2020, especially around the port city of Limón, on the Caribbean coast. Since the Moín port began operating in 2019, where large shipments are moved, criminal groups began to use it to transport drugs.
Amid all this, the branches of the State do not agree on how to face this situation. According to the report published by The Wall Street Journal, the insecurity crisis is “disrupting the country’s political system,” and the situation is worsened by the obvious differences between Laura Fernández’s government and the Judiciary. Thus, the U.S. media accuses a “political civil war” in this conflict.
In the report, the media interviews several figures from the country, including President Laura Fernández, who maintains that the Judiciary is not doing enough to face the crisis. The president pointed out that while the Police do their job and arrest alleged criminals, the courts release some of them, creating a cycle that makes it difficult to contain crime. “Why has this become a vicious circle, where the police arrest people and the Judiciary releases them?” Fernández asked shortly after taking office.
In the same report, Attorney General Carlo Díaz said that the budget cuts imposed by the government on the Judiciary “definitely benefit organized crime.” In the Judiciary’s budget for 2027, there is a cut equivalent to 23 billion colones, or about 50 million dollars.
Meanwhile, the police in the province of Limón also complain. Jeison Arce, head of the municipal police in the city, said he is facing a disproportionate battle. His force has barely three patrol vehicles against organizations with much greater economic resources. Added to this is that many young people join gangs due to the lack of job alternatives.
One of the most representative homicides of this increase in violence in Costa Rica was that of agent Gerson Rosales, 28 years old. He was reportedly killed by members of a local gang while patrolling, and after his death, the president sent new initiatives to toughen penalties.
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From the presidency, however, they defend their results. Although she took office in May, Laura Fernández’s government is a continuation of the previous president, Rodrigo Chaves, now Minister of Finance and the Presidency. In that sense, they indicate that in the last two years the anti-drug police incorporated 100 new agents, and that at least compared to 2025, murders that occurred between January and August decreased by 62.
However, the Journal noted that murders reached historic highs in 2023 and barely declined in the following two years, while cocaine seizures fell to 21.4 metric tons in 2023, the lowest level since 2015.
2023, with 907 murders, was the year when this crisis reached a serious point. Now, however, analysts say that criminal groups are already “settled” in Costa Rica.
Laura Fernández set herself the goal of ending her presidential term by lowering the rate to a maximum of 15.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. That would mean going from 873 to 799 murders during the year 2030.
“It is a very ambitious goal on my part, where I am going all in for national security, assuming responsibilities over a national goal with a branch of the Republic, the Judiciary, that does not even want to dialogue with the president of the Republic, nor with the head of Congress,” Fernández said.
The confrontation has roots in the previous mandate, points out Infobae. Rodrigo Chaves, who governed between 2022 and 2026, promoted a tough discourse against crime and traditional institutions, defended measures inspired by the El Salvador model under Nayib Bukele, and promoted the construction of a maximum-security prison whose opening is scheduled for this year.
During his administration, the constitutional reform allowing the extradition of Costa Rican citizens accused of drug trafficking was also approved.
This year, the country extradited to the United States a former Supreme Court magistrate and former Minister of Security accused of crimes related to drug trafficking.
In August, two alleged drug traffickers, Gilbert Bell Fernández, known as “Macho Coca,” and Gabriel Lozano, alias “Compadre,” were handed over to U.S. justice to face charges in a federal court in New York, Reuters reported.
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