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🇨🇷 Costa Rica /Crime & Justice

Vehicle Thefts Reach a Decade High in Costa Rica: See Where Most Cases Were Reported

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Documents & data Outcome reported
  • Vehicle thefts in Costa Rica increased for five consecutive years from 2021 through 2025, according to Judicial Investigation Police data.
  • The crime rose 20% between 2016 and 2025 and reached its highest level of the decade in 2025.
  • The report examines the cantons with the most cases and the vehicles most frequently listed in police records.

Vehicle theft in Costa Rica reached its highest level of the decade in 2025, following five consecutive annual increases since 2021. The trend differed from that of other property crimes, which declined.

Data from the Judicial Investigation Police show that vehicle theft rose 20% between 2016 and 2025. The increase continued even as other offenses against property moved in the opposite direction.

The report identifies the cantons that accumulated the most cases during the last year and examines which vehicles appeared most often in the records.

About this summary

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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