Santa Cruz, Home to Tamarindo, Leads Guanacaste in Murders and Car Break-Ins

Santa Cruz has recorded 22 homicides so far this year, more than any other county in Guanacaste and about 29% of the province’s 75 killings, according to figures from the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) covering Jan. 1 to Nov. 9. Costa Rica’s count is up from 20 in the same period of 2025, an increase of 10%. Across Guanacaste, homicides rose from 67 to 75, or 11.9%. Tamarindo has the most homicides of any area in Santa Cruz, with five. Veintisiete de Abril follows with four, while Cuajiniquil and Cabo Velas, the district that includes Flamingo and Brasilito, have three each. OIJ classifies 15 of the county’s 22 homicides as score-settling or revenge killings. That number is unchanged from last year, so the increase comes from other types of cases. Santa Cruz also leads the area in break-ins of parked vehicles, with 93 of Guanacaste’s 237 reported cases, or about 39%. Liberia follows with 64 and Nicoya with 34. By district, the most break-ins were reported in central Santa Cruz, with 39, followed by Tamarindo with 25 and Veintisiete de Abril with 23. A further 56 vehicles were reported stolen outright in the county over the same period. The figures come as OIJ agents and the Public Prosecutor’s Office detained 10 people in Santa Cruz yesterday, among them two officers of the Fuerza Pública and a 16-year-old. Investigators suspect the group of involvement in homicide, attempted homicide, drug sales and violent robberies of cars and motorcycles. Authorities link the suspects to at least 13 motorcycle robberies in which victims were seriously injured. One case under investigation is a homicide on July 6, 2025, in Belén de Carrillo, where a 56-year-old man was shot and his car was then set on fire with him inside. Investigators also connect the group to an attack on Sept. 10, 2025, in which a 77-year-old rancher was beaten while milking and his pickup truck was stolen. Agents seized three assault rifles and ammunition at the home of a woman who was among those detained. Vladimir Muñoz, the OIJ’s interim deputy director, outlined the violent methods investigators attribute to the group. None of those detained has been charged, and all are presumed innocent. Prosecutors will determine their legal situation in the coming days. The data follow the death of a French woman who was found shot dead inside her home in Cabo Velas earlier this month. OIJ figures are preliminary and can change as cases are reclassified.