QCOSTARICA The Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) recognized that the allocation of “so many resources” for homicide cases affects the dedication to follow up on other criminal investigations into drug trafficking, money laundering, and corruption, among other crimes.
According to the judicial police, the country closed the first two months of the year with more than 142 homicides. If the trend continues, the OIJ calculates that 2023 would close with a figure between 800 and 900 homicides.
Randall Zúñiga, interim director of the OIJ, said on Radio Monumental’s program that the situation forces other functions of the police to be neglected and stated that crime is more organized every day.
In January, the weekly Semanario Universidad reported that Costa Rica leads the growth in the homicide rate in America, with homicides becoming an epidemic in the country that is growing unabated, reaching the highest levels in the country’s history.
Experts in the matter warn that the country is in a critical condition and that concrete actions must be taken to face a situation, without evading responsibilities.
The projection of the OIJ is that, if the same number of daily homicides is maintained, Costa Rica could see more than 1,200 murders in 2024, which is almost double the 654 registered homicides in 2022, a year that saw the homicide rate reach 12.6 per 100,000 inhabitants.
