Caribbean & Central America - February 2026

There were 873 homicides in Costa Rica in 2025, down only slightly from 876 in 2024 and a peak of 905 in 2023, according to figures from the judicial investigation agency (OIJ), underlining the scale of the public security challenge facing the next government, which will be led by continuity candidate Laura Fernández following the 1 February elections.

The latest figures, which were announced by the OIJ on 5 January, mean that the country recorded a homicide rate of 16.7 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2025, up from 16.6 in 2024. By province, San José registered the highest number of homicides last year with 293, 45 more than in 2024, followed by the coastal province of Limón (172 homicides, nine fewer than 2024), Puntarenas (130, -23) and Alajuela (102, -4). These figures translate into rates of 17.6 per 100,000 inhabitants for San José, 37.7 for Limón, 25.7 for Puntarenas, and 9.5 for Alajuela.

Many killings are linked to conflicts between rival criminal organisations, which are increasingly competing for control of drug trafficking routes as Costa Rica has become a major transhipment country between the cocaine-producing nations of South America and the US and European markets. Security forces have struggled to face down these gangs, which have become more sophisticated and better resourced thanks to growing cooperation with international organised crime groups from Colombia, Mexico, Italy and the Balkans, according to a report posted on 14 January by Diálogo Américas, the news website of the US Southern Command (Southcom).

At the same time, the killing of 36-year-old Chilean environmentalist Francisco Ojeda Garcés on 26 December has raised concerns about the impact of increasing violence on Costa Rica’s reputation among foreign travellers, and the country’s hugely important tourism industry. These concerns are reflected in the fact that Costa Rica ranked 58^th out of 193 countries in the 2025 Global Organized Crime index, which is compiled by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, a Switzerland-based think tank, 14 places worse off than in 2024.

President Rodrigo Chaves has adopted a hardline approach to security, introducing tougher penalties for various crimes and railing against judges that he says are too lenient on dangerous criminals. And in January, lawmakers approved a reform to the penal code to define contract killing as a distinct crime for the first time, with sentences of 20-40 years. Construction has also started on a new high-security prison in Alajuela, with the aim of easing overcrowding in the prison system and helping to combat the power of criminal gangs.

Authorities have undertaken major operations against drug traffickers, including Operation Traición, which targeted a group they have dubbed the Cártel del Caribe Sur, in November. The gang operated mostly out of the Caribbean coastal province of Limón and boasted an armed branch as well as divisions dedicated to terrestrial and maritime logistics, money laundering, and legal, technology and security issues [SSR-25-12]. A few weeks later, authorities seized 4.4 tonnes of cocaine off the Pacific coast as part of a joint operation with the US. The 14 January Diálogo Americas report notes that Washington has also delivered two fixed scanners and two Puma drones to improve monitoring capacity at Costa Rican ports. Further international assistance has come from the European Union (EU), which is helping to train Costa Rican officials as part of the EU-funded Seaport Cooperation Project (Seacop).

Challenges ahead

Looking ahead, more international cooperation will be needed to halt the further expansion of organised criminal influence in Costa Rica. There is already mounting evidence that these gangs have succeeded in infiltrating public institutions, most notably with the arrest of former security minister Celso Gamboa (2014-2015) on drug trafficking charges last year [SSR-25-08], and the incoming government will have to take concerted action to prevent the consolidation of corruption networks that would make combatting crime and improving public security an even more difficult task.