Strides have been made in combatting corruption through the introduction of robust laws and anti-corruption agencies by successive governments.
It was discovered that private companies offered luxurious houses and cars to state officials in exchange for preferential treatment.
Constructors used false invoices as well as inflated prices as means to factor in the bribe paid to state officials, which stood at 78 billion Colone or $125 million .
A judge and a member of Costa Rica's national police force were arrested in connection with being involved in the activities of a major drug trafficking and criminal organization in December 2020.
A 2020 report from Costa Rica's state of the nation program showed that only one in ten complaints regarding corruption made it to trial, raising concerns for impunity.