Costa Rica ’s justice ministry announced on Tuesday that the country has transferred its first 123 inmates into a newly constructed mega- prison located on the outskirts of the capital, San José, built with assistance from the Salvadoran government.

Images released by the ministry show rows of prisoners in orange seated with shaved heads bowed and hands behind their necks.

The poses mirror photographs from El Salvador 's Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), the mega-prison where President Nayib Bukele's government detains tens of thousands of gang members and suspected affiliates.

The maximum security facility, officially titled the High Containment Center against Organized Crime (CACCO), has been presented by the government of President Laura Fernández as a symbol of a new "tough on crime" stance in response to an ongoing security crisis facing the nation.

Inmates sit on the floor with their hands on their heads after being transferred to the Center for High Containment of Organized Crime…