Q COSTARICA — Nicaraguan migrants topped the list of foreign homicide victims in Costa Rica during 2025, according to official data from the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ – the Judicial Investigation Agency.
The figures confirm a disproportionate impact of lethal violence on the migrant population, particularly on the Nicaraguan community, the largest in the country.
According to the report from the OIJ’s Criminal Analysis Unit, 92 Nicaraguans were murdered in Costa Rica in 2025.
During that same period, the country registered a total of 873 homicides, of which 122 involved foreign nationals, meaning that Nicaraguans represented approximately 75% of the foreign victims.
The report details that, far behind, Panamanians and Americans accounted for six homicides each.
Victims were also registered from Jamaica, Colombia, France, Peru, Guatemala, Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile, Austria, Canada, Germany, El Salvador, and Spain, although with only one or a few cases per nationality.
Violence, Migration, and Social Exclusion
Security and criminal analysis specialists agree that the migrant population, particularly Nicaraguans, faces high levels of vulnerability, associated with structural conditions such as informal and precarious employment, residence in areas with high crime rates, limited access to social protection networks, and exposure to organized crime and drug trafficking.
In many cases, the victims are people of working age who work in sectors such as agriculture, construction, private security, and services—activities characterized by long hours, low wages, and limited institutional support.
A Year Marked by Violence
The sustained increase in homicides has raised alarms among authorities and international organizations.
The year 2025 ranks among the most violent in Costa Rica’s recent history, with figures reflecting the expansion of organized crime, settling of scores, and territorial disputes, especially in coastal and border areas.
Although the OIJ has reiterated that nationality is not a determining factor in crime, the data shows that violence impacts certain groups unequally, including the Nicaraguan migrant population.
The main motive for homicides continues to be settling of scores between gangs, and more than 70% of the victims are young men, primarily between the ages of 18 and 39.
In terms of geographic distribution, the central canton of San José led the list with 18 homicides of foreign nationals, followed by Santa Cruz de Guanacaste with 11 cases and Alajuelita (San Jose) with seven.
Significant numbers were also reported in Alajuela, Limón, Los Chiles, San Carlos, Orotina, Nicoya, Cartago, Quepos, and Liberia, among other cantons.
Meanwhile, the Observatorio Voces Contra la Violencia (Voices Against Violence Observatory) has documented 72 crimes against Nicaraguan women and girls, 10 of which were murdered in Costa Rica, reinforcing concerns about the safety of migrant women in vulnerable situations.
Unsolved Crime
Among the 92 Nicaraguans murdered in Costa Rica in 2025 is the case of retired Nicaraguan Army Major Roberto Samcam Ruiz, who was shot to death on June 19, 2025, in Moravia, San José, where he had been living in exile since 2018.
Despite raids and arrests by authorities, there has been no conclusive official response to date regarding the progress of the investigations.
Samcam was an outspoken critic of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, and had denounced the persecution and espionage networks targeting Nicaraguan opposition members in exile—allegations that, as of August 2025, were denied by the director of the Dirección de Inteligencia y Seguridad (DIS), Jorge Torres Carrillo. The DIS is the intelligence and security agency of the Presidency.
The Samcam case adds to the growing list of unsolved homicides and once again places citizen security, the protection of migrants, and the fight against impunity at the center of public debate, in a context of violence that continues to generate deep concern in Costa Rica.
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