Costa Rica has exceeded 500 homicides for the year. As of Wednesday morning, with the 4 overnight Tuesday murders in Limón, Hatillo, Barranca y Sarapiquí, the number of homicides for the year so far is 502.
Though the humber is high, at the same time last year the number of homicides was 530.
If the current wave of homicides continues, the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) expects the year to end with 543, down from last year’s 585 and 603 in 2017.
Recently, Security Minister Michael Soto said: “there are homicides that the police cannot prevent.”
“If you analyze homicide by homicide, they are not focused on a single mode of operation. We have disputes, domestic violence, property crimes and settling of accounts, ”explained the Minister.
“There are homicides that the police definitely cannot prevent. How do police forces prevent a quarrel in a house, or a dispute in a closed environment? ”, he said.
OIJ statistics indicate that 45% of homicides respond to a settling of scores and retaliations linked to drug trafficking.