QCOSTARICA – The Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) – Judicial Police – says a vehicle is stolen every two hours in Costa Rica, with Saturdays being the days that most cases are reported.

In total, in 2022, there were 4,387 filed for vehicle theft, that is on average 12 vehicles a day.

According to figures from the OIJ, in 2021, there were 3,373 cases. That’s a 30% increase from year-to-year.

Arnoldo Lizano, an OIJ researcher, declared that most of the cars that are stolen have the ultimate goal of being ‘twinned’.

Lizano indicated that part of the increase in complaints is explained by the fact that in 2021 there was still a sanitary vehicle restriction, implemented as a measure to curb the spread of the covi-19 virus.

Read more: Vehicle restriction stops car theft

According to the judicial police, the “tacha” (break-in) of vehicles had an increase of 19.9%, which represents an entry of 594 more complaints in the year 2022, compared to 2021. In this crime, the modality that occurred the most was the breaking of glass with 1,165 complaints.