Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly is moving forward with a bill that aims to strengthen the rules around pretrial detention in response to growing threats from organized crime. The proposal, which reforms the Criminal Procedure Code, comes as the country grapples with increased violence tied to drug trafficking and hired killings. It lets judges order pretrial detention if there’s clear evidence of an immediate threat to victims, witnesses, or specific groups of people. Pretrial detention could apply to cases involving organized crime groups, drug operations, contract hits, and situations where adults recruit kids to commit offenses. They pointed out that making detention mandatory in high-profile crimes like drug trafficking goes against basic ideas of fair treatment and measured responses.