QCOSTARICA — Costa Rica has become a branch of international criminal structures, these organizations are allying themselves with narco-families and local gangs to occupy the largest amount of territory at a national level.
This is stated by the Programa Estado de la Nación (PEN) – State of the Nation Program – in its thirtieth report.
According to the report, Costa Rica is no longer just a drug transit country, but also presents an “existence of an ecosystem of criminal networks that benefit from institutional weaknesses”, in addition to the “porosity of the borders” to carry out illicit practices and drug trafficking.
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Likewise, there are “convergences between international organized crime and local dynamics” for drug trafficking.
In the context of these national circumstances, Costa Rica is immersed in the dynamics of organized crime linked to the illicit drug trade, which are in turn influenced by the dynamics of organized crime at a transnational level.
These factors act as facilitators of wilful homicides and present changing dynamics that have influenced their increase in recent years.
Geopolitics of drug trafficking
The PEN claims that the country is immersed in a “geopolitics of drug trafficking.” It even states that a higher level of organization and expanding territorial control are observed in local gangs (“local mini-cartels”).
These structures are using systematic violence, planned and strategic actions, greater access to sophisticated weapons and internal power struggles.
“Cocaine trafficking is omnipresent in Costa Rica, as it continues to be an important transit country for cocaine. Costa Rica’s strategic location and vast maritime territory make it an attractive logistics and transit center for illicit drug trafficking. Control of cocaine trafficking through ports and the local marijuana market are two of the factors responsible for the spikes in homicides in the country,” the report says.
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External events that impact internal
In this “geopolitics,” a series of events occurred that could have led to a spike in the crime wave.
In 2022, there was a collapse in the international price of cocaine for export, generating overproduction and an increase in crops.
For Costa Rica, it meant that there was “more product” at a “good price,” which made the gangs want to “consolidate markets” and even want to “re-export.”
“Although the groups are still predominantly national in character, there has been an increase in the number (of gangs), and the incursion of international groups that came with learnings from the Mexican cartels, characterized by cruelty and perversity in their acts, has also been observed. While the influence of the Colombian cartels allowed coexistence between local groups, the Mexican influence leaves no room for such coexistence.
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“The fight for control of these markets is intensifying, which, together with the transnationalization of criminal groups, who acquire knowledge and adopt more violent practices, has unleashed an increase in both criminality and homicidal violence,” says the report.
Government policies fall short
The State of the Nation reports that “the country has lost capacity” in terms of the implementation of security policies, due to limitations and challenges
Even an analysis carried out by the Comptroller General of the Republic determined that the actions of the Ministry of Public Security “have not been effective”.
“(…). Although the State may have adequate policies or programs, their effectiveness depends largely on the institutional capacity of the entities involved. Since December 2018, most of the institutions in charge of security have experienced stagnation or declines in terms of the number of personnel, which contrasts with the growing deterioration of security in the country,” it reads.
The analysis of the situation of the Ministry of Security reveals that, despite the growth in budgets and the approval of more positions, there are limitations in the capacity to manage resources.
Answers
Beyond making a diagnosis, the PEN proposes a series of solutions for the criminal issue. The researchers propose a review of police competencies, decentralization of resources, use of technologies, availability of patrols, adequate equipment and the need for financial resources.
“The transnationalization of crime requires that police forces have the capacity to understand the phenomenon from a geopolitical perspective and that, in terms of technology, they are trained and have the availability and mastery of tools to monitor territories, as well as the formation and evolution of criminal groups, since organized crime is characterized by an increasing modernization of weapons and operating models,” the report states.
Institutionality Reform
At the same time, the State of the Nation proposes structural changes at an institutional level to strengthen the response in terms of security.
One of the proposals is to improve the functioning of the justice system, since it is “slow and inefficient.”
“Modifications are essential in the various phases of the penal system, from the reporting and investigation channels to the trial and the execution of the sentence,” it indicates.
All of this must go hand in hand with a system that has specialized investigative teams on international organized crime scenarios, expand the capacity of judicial investigation, design a criminal prosecution policy based on “strategic readings” and joint work of several specialized prosecutors when dealing with complex crimes.
“Legal reforms and better police and investigative capacity are required in the PCD (Drug Control Police) and in the Public Prosecutor’s Office to locate, seize and manage the assets and capital recovered from illicit activities,” the document adds.
A priority issue in terms of security is the transfer of information between institutions so that they can feed back to each other with their available databases and thus improve their intelligence capabilities.
Finally, the PEN suggests that, beyond imposing a “heavy hand” or the militarization of certain areas, the long-term solution must be based on the “generation of opportunities” for those who live in the affected areas.
Thus, they suggest: “primary social prevention”, understood as addressing poverty and social exclusion; increasing scholarships, promoting sports and programs to prevent drug use.
Most of these proposals do not consider the fiscal situation and other types of economic alternatives to address organized crime.
Other options are: the creation of a unified system for the control of weapons and explosives and employment policies focused on the cantons of Puntarenas and Limón.
“It is urgent to prioritize inter-institutional work in the territories with the highest homicide rates, both those that historically maintain this problem and those that more recently reached this situation. This focus must be done at the same time as monitoring the behavior of the indicators that trace social violence, not only in very dangerous places, but also in those that may present signs of vulnerability or worsening,” the report explains.
A similar case in penitentiary matters, in which it is recommended to reform the prison model.
“The resocialization function of penitentiary centers must be strengthened, through education and preparation. Measures to promote formal and vocational education and training for work in prisons must have a model that is sustainable, evaluable and with alliances with strategic actors,” the report concludes.
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