American Expatriate Costa Rica

Bloody January: 17 homicides in nine days

The wave of violence of last year seems to have no end: in the first nine days of January the judicial authorities registered 17 homicides.

The first double homicide of the year was recorded on Tuesday when two senior citizens were found dead at a home in San Jorge de Paso Canoas on the border between Costa Rica and Panama. The victims of 74 and 71 years old were brutally killed with a pipe or a hammer, and that reflects the high level of violence that has been seen in recent months.

Michael Soto, head of the Office of Plans and Operations of the OIJ, has indicated that for this 2018 the goal will be to lower the 600 homicide cases in the national territory. Soto believes that this is the best time for the entire country to come together and develop strategies that have an impact on a country that is bleeding from the struggles of drug trafficking.

A projection of the OIJ indicates that if the country does not stop the battle for drug territories, more than 800 homicides would be registered in the year 2026.

crhoy.com