According to the Organism of Judicial Investigation (OIJ) the last few weeks there’s been an increase in the number of homicides in comparison to the average of the previous months.

The criminal organizations are using 9mm fully automatic machine guns that allow burst fire in a matter of a few seconds.

A lot of the incidents are confrontations between gangs that are looking to settle scores or simply battle over a particular territory.

The majority of the violent incidents has taken place in San Jose, two of the areas where incidents have increased are the communities of Pavas and Desamparados; just this past weekend two incidents were reported, one in downtown San Jose where a group of men got out of their vehicle and opened fire on two men by the last names Jaen and Barrantes who were also in a car.

The second crime occurred in the bar El Nuevo Paveño in Pavas, where four men arrived in a vehicle, two got out with their faces covered and shot two men of last names Alvarez (26), Bermudez (29) and Quesada (27). Both Quesada and Alvarez had a criminal record for robbery. During this attack other 8 people that were in the bar at the time were injured.

According to statistics by OIJ, the two provinces that register most violence is San Jose and Limon. The majority of the victims (88.5%) are men between the ages of 18 to 39.