Q COSTA RICA — The Presidency announced on Sunday that the High-Security Center against Organized Crime (CACCO) will be inaugurated on October 14 at 12:30 PM. The ceremony will be broadcast live on YouTube, according to a government announcement made during a national broadcast on Sunday, October 4.
The announcement was a key part of the official address, which featured footage of the facility and statements from President Laura Fernández. “Today, we can proudly say that the High-Security Center against Organized Crime is ready,” she stated.
The government linked the prison to its policy against organized crime.
Fernández maintained that the new prison addresses the concerns of victims and families affected by insecurity. “For the pain of innocent victims, for honest families living in the grip of fear, and for a people tired of impunity who are demanding a tough stance against criminals,” she said in the video.
The president noted that the project aims to strengthen the state’s response to criminal networks. “Today, more than ever, we will defend our homeland with all our might,” she declared at the end of the video.
The broadcast also included excerpts of criticism regarding the project, specifically questioning the prison’s name and size. In response, Fernández walked through some of the center’s areas.
“There is no such thing as a ‘mega-prison’; it is a small prison,” and “This isn’t a mega-prison; it’s a lie”—these were some of the reactions to the project, to which Fernández responded by showing a preview of what awaits Costa Rica.
The center is being built within the La Reforma penitentiary complex in San Rafael de Alajuela; it was designed to house inmates linked to organized crime networks or those classified as high-risk. The facility will consist of five modules and have a capacity for approximately 5,100 inmates. Each module will be able to house around 1,020 people, according to information released about the project.
CACCO will not operate under the same conditions as other correctional facilities in the country. The Ministry of Justice previously explained that the “high-containment” model entails additional restrictions aimed at reducing the likelihood that individuals linked to criminal organizations continue to coordinate activities from within the prison.
Reports from the construction site also indicate that inmates will have limited time outside their cells and that isolation areas will exist for those who cause disturbances within the facility.
The Fernández administration presented the project as a tool to strengthen control over inmates linked to contract killings, drug trafficking, and organized crime, although the assignment of inmates will depend on applicable technical and correctional criteria.