Costa Rica inaugurates Bukele-style mega-prison as organized crime fight intensifies

Costa Rican President Laura Fernández inaugurated the $35 million High-Containment Center Against Organised Crime on October 14, 2026, aimed at housing 5,100 maximum-security inmates. The facility emulates El Salvador's mega-prison model to combat rising homicide rates driven by international drug cartels. As prison overcrowding exceeds 50%, leaders across Latin America, including in Peru, Colombia, and Brazil, are adopting similar hardline policies.

Details of Costa Rica's new mega-prison

• ▪Inmates at Costa Rica's High-Containment Center Against Organised Crime will be restricted to one hour of outdoor sunlight daily, wear orange uniforms, and face strict visitation limits.
• ▪Costa Rican President Laura Fernández inaugurated the $35 million High-Containment Center Against Organised Crime maximum-security mega-prison on October 14, 2026.
• ▪The High-Containment Center Against Organised Crime covers 91,000 square meters in San Rafael de Alajuela, featuring five modules and 85 cells designed to house 5,100 prisoners.
• ▪Costa Rican Justice Minister Gabriel Aguilar stated that initial prisoner transfers to the High-Containment Center Against Organised Crime will begin at the end of October 2026.

El Salvador's involvement in the prison project

• ▪Costa Rican President Laura Fernández scheduled an official visit to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center on October 16, 2026, to inspect its penitentiary operations.
• ▪El Salvador donated the architectural and structural design of its Terrorism Confinement Center to Costa Rica for the construction of the new mega-prison.

Overcrowding in Costa Rica's prison system

• ▪The 5,100-inmate capacity of Costa Rica's High-Containment Center Against Organised Crime represents approximately 20% of the nation's total prison population in October 2026.
• ▪Costa Rica's prison system experienced overcrowding exceeding 50% as of October 2026, following a decade during which its incarcerated population doubled.

Rising crime and cartel activity in Costa Rica

• ▪Costa Rican authorities and analysts attribute the surge in violence to territorial clashes between local proxy gangs and international cartels including Sinaloa, Jalisco, and Tren de Aragua.
• ▪A 2025 U.S. State Department report identified the expansion of drug transshipment through Limón, Costa Rica, alongside local fentanyl distribution within the country.
• ▪Costa Rica recorded 905 homicides in 2023, 876 in 2024, and 873 in 2025, marking the most violent period in the country's recorded history.

Regional adoption of Bukele-Style mega-prisons

• ▪Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro advanced to the final round of Brazil's 2026 presidential election on a platform proposing the construction of five Bukele-style mega-prisons.
• ▪Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella campaigned for office on a pledge to build 10 mega-prisons prior to taking office in August 2026.
• ▪Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori announced plans to visit El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center ahead of constructing a similar maximum-security prison in Peru.