QCOSTARICA — Of the 907 recorded homicides committed in 2023, the most violent year in history, at least 192 were carried out by sicarios (hitmen) on a motorcycle.
This is an 81% increase in the use of a motorcycle to commit murders in 2023 over the previous 2022, so it is a strong wake-up call to do something, according to Randall Zúñiga, director of the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ), Costa Rica’s Judicial Police.
“This increase that of motorcycles used as a vehicle to commit murders is quite significant, we are not talking about a small change, but an abrupt one. We are going from 106 homicides that occurred through the use of motorcycles in 2022 to 192 in 2023. When these situations happen that generate such abrupt changes, society has to respond. If measures are not taken, the numbers will continue to increase,” added Zúñiga.
Previously, the government of Rodrigo Chaves proposed legislation that motorcyclists wear the license plate number on their vest and on their helmet, but the initiative did not move forward in the Legislative Assembly.
The 907 murders, the majority resulting from the ‘settling of scores or revenge’ related to the drug trafficking trade in the country, evelating the murder rate to an unprecedented 17.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, setting a new record in Costa Rica’s history.
According to the OIJ statistics, the majority of the crimes occurred in the provinces of San José and Limón, followed by Puntarenas, Heredia (with a significant increase), Guanacaste and Cartago. The only province that showed a decrease compared to the previous year was Alajuela.
The OIJ report also indicates a increase in multiple murders: Double crimes increased by 72.7% and triples by 500.0%. The quadruples, on the other hand, were maintained.
On average, in 2023, the country recorded 2.5 murders a day; that is, one every 9 hours. This marks an acceleration in the “crime clock”, which in 2022 stood at one every 13 hours.
Victimology
84.7% of the victims were Costa Ricans. Of these, 9 out of 10 were men, while 7 out of 10 were between 18 and 39 years old.
Despite the abysmal difference in the sex of the victims, the truth is that 2023 also closed as the year with the highest number of murdered women, with 71 cases.
Likewise, 2023 was the year with the highest number of collateral victims, with 52 incidents. This type of victim represents 5.5% of the total number of murdered.
In his speech, Zúñiga highlighted the increase in the number of Nicaraguans executed in Costa Rica. The victims originating from the neighboring country the north went from 61 to 100 in the last year.
