By Roberto Orozco B. | 2025-04-28

SAN JOSE -- Long considered a haven of stability in turbulent Central America, Costa Rica is confronting a harsh new reality: a surge in violence tied to organized crime is beginning to undermine its crucial tourism industry, a cornerstone of the nation's economy.

Rising insecurity has tarnished the country's long-standing image as a peaceful destination, prompting growing concern among travelers.

The tourism sector, which accounts for approximately 8% of Costa Rica's gross domestic product, is already showing signs of strain.

The country welcomed 38,589 fewer visitors in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year -- a 4% drop, according to figures released on April 22 by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute.

The sharpest decline came from European travelers, followed by a noticeable decrease in arrivals from the United States.

Increase in crime

While Costa Rican authorities and tourism industry leaders insist that violence tied to organized crime has had only a limited impact, the country's escalating security crisis is drawing increasing international attention.

Drug-trafficking networks and gang-related territorial disputes have fueled a surge in violent crime that now is placing Costa Rica firmly on the global radar.

Reports from the Inter-American Security Observatory of the Organization of American States and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime indicate that homicide rates have been rising steadily since 2022.

The country recorded 907 homicides in 2023 -- a record high and a 39% increase over the 654 murders registered in 2022, according to a March 15 report by the digital outlet Centro América 360°, citing data from Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Agency.

Although 2024 saw a slight decline, the year still closed with 880 homicides and 30 additional disappearances, underscoring the persistence of the crisis.

Costa Rica now ranks as the third most violent country in Central America, behind Guatemala and Honduras, surpassing El Salvador for the first time in years and breaking the traditional hierarchy of violence within the region's so-called Northern Triangle.

Guatemala and Honduras remained at the top, registering 2,869 and 2,563 homicides in 2024, respectively.

Transnational and local crime

Straddling a key corridor for cocaine moving north from South America, the Central American isthmus remains a strategic battleground in the hemispheric drug trade. Costa Rica, long considered an exception to the region's instability, is increasingly caught in the crosshairs.

In 2020, then-Security Minister Michael Soto publicly confirmed that the Venezuelan "Cartel of the Suns" -- a criminal organization linked to high-ranking officials in the Venezuelan government and military -- had established a presence in Costa Rica, trafficking cocaine bound for North America.

More recently, US Ambassador to Costa Rica Cynthia Telles issued a stark warning.

In a video broadcast during a news conference in San Jose on November 20, she cautioned that drug trafficking "could spiral out of control" if Costa Rican authorities failed to coordinate more closely with international partners.

"People ask me if Costa Rica is a narco-state -- no, it's not," Telles said in her remarks reported by local media. "But if we don't come together now, if we don't work very closely together, it could get out of hand in two years or more."

The growing flow of narcotics has fueled the emergence of homegrown trafficking groups that collaborate with transnational cartels from Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela. These networks have taken hold in coastal areas, particularly the Caribbean province of Limon and the Pacific province of Guanacaste, where homicide rates have soared.

Among the most prominent groups identified by Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Agency is Los Morelos, a local criminal organization with growing influence.

Murders reach San Jose

In early 2025, however, the violence began shifting inland. By March, the province of San Jose -- home to the capital -- had become the epicenter of gang-related killings.

Seventy-four of the 217 homicides recorded nationwide during the first quarter of 2025 occurred in San Jose province, accounting for 34% of the total, according to Attorney General Carlo Diaz.

Many of the killings appear to be contract hits, the result of escalating turf wars among rival gangs, Diaz told CRHoy.com on April 24.

He pointed to a legal loophole that makes Costa Rica an attractive refuge for foreign traffickers: "They can obtain Costa Rican citizenship easily, and once they do, they can't be extradited [if they get caught]. So they stay and continue their operations here."