Inmates turn prison Items Into Contraband at Costa Rica’s New High-Security Facility

Q COSTA RICA — Prison officers at Costa Rica’s new high-security facility, the High Containment and Organized Crime, known by its Spanish acronym CACCO, have seized handmade playing cards, improvised clotheslines, pieces of sandals and a small ball stitched from inmates’ uniform fabric, according to the country’s Ministry of Justice.

The items were found during recent inspections. Officers recovered 102 pieces of paper and cardboard marked with designs resembling playing cards. They also found 17 sandal straps, dental floss, a piece of mattress material, and makeshift cords used as clotheslines. In one dormitory, a metal piece had been repurposed as a bed fastener.

Among the objects was a small ball known as a “cascarita,” made from orange uniform fabric. The ministry said inmates sew the material together and wet it to make the ball heavier; it is used for play, thrown against walls or passed between people. The authorities classify these and other items as unauthorized inside the dormitories.

The latest discoveries follow an inspection on October 31 in a dormitory in unit four. During that search, officers reported finding sharpened plastic spoons, a metal piece detached from a bunk, and a homemade blade fashioned from glass with a paper handle. They also seized handmade pillows, strips of blankets, a needle made from wire, and a glass container that apparently held medication.

CACCO began operating on October 30, initially receiving 123 people described by authorities as high-risk inmates. More than 600 have been transferred there. The facility is designed to hold up to 5,100 people, with occupancy increasing through transfers from other prisons.

The ministry says officers maintain round-the-clock surveillance and carry out searches aimed at detecting altered clothing, furnishings and other everyday materials.

Analysis: A small object can reveal a larger security challenge

The seized cards and ball are not equivalent in risk to the homemade blade or sharpened spoons found in the earlier search. Grouping them all under the label of prohibited objects may be administratively useful, but it can blur an important distinction between items that may pose an immediate safety threat and improvised objects used for recreation or daily routines.

The broader security issue is the ingenuity required to monitor a prison where ordinary materials can be altered and repurposed. Sandals, uniforms, bedding and furniture components can become tools, toys or potential hazards. That makes inspections more complicated than simply searching for conventional contraband: officers must look for changes in objects that are otherwise permitted.

The timing also matters. CACCO had been open for less than two weeks when the searches described in the report took place, and its population had grown rapidly from the initial transfer. These findings reflect a rising security problem. It also offers no comparison with other prisons or figures on how frequently such objects are found.

For now, the reported seizures show the practical limits of controlling materials inside a high-security facility. Constant monitoring may detect improvised items, but the ministry’s own description suggests that identifying alterations can require close attention—not just routine searches.