Costa Rica Opens a Mega-Prison for the Criminals Still Running Gangs From Their Cells

Costa Rica's President Rodrigo Chaves (L) and El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele wave after a press conference at the construction site of the High Containment Center for Organized Crime (CACO) prison in Alajuela, Costa Rica on January 14, 2026. (Credit: Photo by EZEQUIEL BECERRA / AFP via Getty Images)

The Briefing:

• Costa Rica inaugurated the CACCO — a 5,100-bed, $35 million maximum-security mega-prison — on October 14, completing nine months of construction at the La Reforma complex in San Rafael de Alajuela.
• Built on blueprints donated by El Salvador's Bukele government, the five-module fortress is designed to isolate cartel bosses and hitmen who have been running criminal networks and extorting fellow inmates from inside Costa Rica's overcrowded penitentiaries.
• President Laura Fernández named the killer of officer Gerson Rosales as the CACCO's first intended occupant, and announced a personal visit to El Salvador's CECOT for October 16 to study its operational model in person.