What was predictable in 2010, today is a reality: we are totally immersed in organized crime, we are part of it.”
These remarks by Attorney General of the Republic, Jorge Chavarría, explain the situation of the country: only in the first 59 days of the year, there have been 91 registered homicides.
One of the main causes is the clashes between gangs dedicated to drug trafficking, which emulate the Mexican cartels’ strategy to expand operations, establish a monopoly and eliminate rivals.
Local organizations are diversified by supply pressure, to spread the local market, which leads to a trend to monopoly and use of violence – the Mexican recipe – where each gang has its armed groups and tries to eliminate competition,”
explained Chavarría.
Costa Rican entities have already detected cases in which Costa Rican hitmen are trained in the Aztec country. This strategy is reflected in the annual average of homicides in the last two years: 570. The estimates for 2017 are to follow the same dynamic, with San José and Limón leading the way.
We are immersed in organized crime. We will continue to feel the effects of this problem and now we have to fine-tune the organization of both the Drug Control Police and the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ). We have made an effort, but we have limitations of human resources, we require reinforcements,”
said Chavarría.
According to Chavarría, another strategy of Mexican groups is to recruit state officials in their criminal organizations as advisers.
For five years, the Supreme Court has created a Commission composed of the presidents of the Chambers, the Attorney General and the director of the OIJ to design strategies to shield the Judiciary.
In addition, security mechanisms were established to carry out an exhaustive analysis of the people who join the institutions and constantly analyze the behavior of colleagues, especially any noticeable changes in their economic level.