In 2020, the US Department of Justice released a bombshell indictment charging sitting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and other senior members of his government with “narco-terrorism” and accusing them of…
Venezuela's Cocaine Revolution
INVESTIGATIONS
/ 2 MAY 2022
In 2013, Nicolás Maduro became president of Venezuela following the death of his charismatic predecessor Hugo Chávez. Since then, the country’s cocaine trade has undergone revolutionary changes. Today, Venezuela is…
NEWS
Indigenous Communities in Rural Mexico Get No Help Against Constant Criminal Threats
HUMAN RIGHTS
/
13 MAY 2022
The death of two indigenous leaders in Guerrero, Mexico, has again drawn attention to the government’s negligent protection of indigenous communities targeted by criminal groups throughout Mexico. In a…
NEWS
Jamaica Prepares to Strike Anew at Lottery Scammers
CARIBBEAN
/
13 MAY 2022
Jamaica's government has signaled plans to incorporate some new tricks to raise the cost of engaging in lottery scamming, having thus far struggled to curb one of the island's top…
NEWS
Does Armed Strike Mark Urabeños' Last Stand Together?
COLOMBIA
/
12 MAY 2022
An armed blockade by the Urabeños drug clan that left much of northern Colombia reeling has signaled that the group – which the government claims to have weakened – still…
NEWS
Paraguay Grapples with Criminal Sophistication After Prosecutor's Slaying
COLOMBIA
/
12 MAY 2022
The assassination of a crusading Paraguayan prosecutor while on honeymoon in Colombia has caused widespread alarm about the rising levels of sophistication and brazenness of Paraguayan criminal groups.
NEWS
Illegal Coal Mine Killings Prompt Peruvian Authorities to Act
ILLEGAL MINING
/
11 MAY 2022
Authorities have extended a state of emergency in Peru’s illegal coal mining heartland, already mired in criminality, following a sharp rise in killings as gangs battle for control of lucrative…
NEWS
Avocados, Limes and Peaches: Cartel Violence Kills Harvests of Fruit in Mexico
DISPLACEMENT
/
11 MAY 2022
Mexico's produce industry has taken another hit from cartel violence, as tens of millions of dollars worth of peaches are set to be lost after farmers abandoned their fields.
NEWS
Former Honduras President Pleads Not Guilty, Ex-Police Chief Extradited to US
COCAINE
/
10 MAY 2022
Former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández pleaded not guilty to US drug charges on the same day that a notorious ex-Honduras police chief was extradited to the US – in…
NEWS
Ecuador's Smaller Gangs Making Deadly Statements in Large-Scale Massacres
ECUADOR
/
10 MAY 2022
Ecuador has seen its sixth large-scale prison massacre since the start of 2021, with at least 44 prisoners being killed during a riot at a jail west of Quito.
NEWS
How Mexico City Tried to Crush La Unión Tepito
JALISCO CARTEL
/
9 MAY 2022
Mexico City authorities have sustained a two-year crackdown on the city’s largest gang, La Unión Tepito, arresting hundreds and freezing millions in assets as they attempt to destroy the group…
NEWS
Colombian and Mexican Cartels Pick Sides in Ecuador's Drug War
COLOMBIA
/
9 MAY 2022
A recent wave of murders in the Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas provides clues to the role of dissident factions of the now-defunct Colombian guerrilla group known as the FARC in…
Featured Reporting and Analysis
On April 3, 2021, police in the east Venezuelan state of Anzoátegui acted on a tip-off to intercept a silver Toyota Corolla. They interrogated the driver, a middle-aged woman accompanied…
CARTEL OF THE SUNS
/
2 MAY 2022
In 2013, Nicolás Maduro became president of one of the world’s most important cocaine hubs, inheriting a unique drug trafficking eco-system where the line between the underworld and the state…
CARTEL OF THE SUNS
/
2 MAY 2022
In 2016, two adopted nephews of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro were found guilty of a conspiracy to bring 800 kilograms of cocaine into the United States.
CARTEL OF THE SUNS
/
2 MAY 2022
At the start of 2010, the former Colombian paramilitary leader Hernán Giraldo Serna was completing his sentence for drug trafficking in a US prison.
AUC
/
13 APR 2022
In October 2021, the Venezuelan Ministry of the Interior issued an ordinary looking statement about an antinarcotics operation in the state of Zulia that had extraordinary implications: the military had…
CARTEL OF THE SUNS
/
2 MAY 2022
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InDepth
About InSight Crime
THE ORGANIZATION
Venezuela Drug Trafficking Investigation and InDepth Gender Coverage
29 APR 2022
On May 4, InSight Crime will be publishing The Cocaine Revolution in Venezuela, a groundbreaking investigation into how the Venezuelan government regulates the cocaine trade in the country. An accompanying event,…
THE ORGANIZATION
InDepth Coverage of Juan Orlando Hernández
22 APR 2022
Ever since Juan Orlando Hernández was elected president of Honduras in 2014, InSight Crime has provided coverage of every twist and turn during his rollercoaster time in office, amid growing…
THE ORGANIZATION
Venezuela's Cocaine Revolution
15 APR 2022
On May 4th, InSight Crime will publish a groundbreaking investigation on drug trafficking in Venezuela. A product of three years of field research across the country, the study uncovers cocaine production in…
LA ORGANIZACIÓN
Widespread Coverage of InSight Crime MS13 Investigation
8 APR 2022
In a joint investigation with La Prensa Gráfica, InSight Crime recently revealed that four of the MS13’s foremost leaders had been quietly released from…
THE ORGANIZATION
Informing US State Department and European Union
1 APR 2022
InSight Crime Co-director McDermott briefed the US State Department and other international players on the presence of Colombian guerrillas in Venezuela and the implication this has for both nations. McDermott…