On April 23, 2021, two Venezuelan military helicopters landed near the town of La Victoria in the border state of Apure filled with soldiers dispatched to hunt dissident Colombian guerrillas.
The Battle for Apure: Chavismo and the ex-FARC
INVESTIGATIONS
/ 13 OCT 2021
Colombian rebel groups long ago set up shop in Venezuela, seeking sanctuary beyond the reach of the US-back Colombian military. The Chavista regime welcomed them as allies against an “imperialist”…
NEWS
The Drug Lord and the Governor's Daughter - Quadruple Homicide in Paraguay
ELITES AND CRIME
/
20 OCT 2021
The killing of four young people in Paraguay’s border city of Pedro Juan Caballero has led back to an imprisoned man who was once its most-wanted drug trafficker, revealing systemic…
NEWS
El Salvador's Bitcoin Bonuses Bilked by Hackers
CYBERCRIME
/
20 OCT 2021
A month after El Salvador’s government introduced Bitcoin as a national currency, an illegal corner of the new economy has emerged: the widespread theft of the $30 deposits used as…
NEWS
Alleged Money Launderer Álex Saab Facing US Justice Triggers Fallout from Venezuela
ELITES AND CRIME
/
19 OCT 2021
Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro's aggressive reaction to the extradition of accused money launderer and ally Álex Saab – who appeared for the first time before a US judge to face…
NEWS
Haiti Kidnappings Target Foreigners in Evolution of Security Crisis
HAITI
/
18 OCT 2021
The abduction of 17 American and Canadian citizens in Haiti will bring a new level of attention to the country’s out-of-control kidnapping crisis but is unlikely to lead to new…
NEWS
Cartel Gunmen Take Out Surveillance Cameras in Sinaloa, Mexico
MEXICO
/
18 OCT 2021
Gunmen have gone on a shooting spree of police surveillance cameras in the Mexican city of Culiacán – attacks that not only blind authorities but reinforce cartel control.
NEWS
How Mexico's Cartels Use Video Games to Recruit Children
CARTEL DE JALISCO
/
15 OCT 2021
Mexican criminal groups have hit on a new way to recruit vulnerable young people into their ranks: reaching out to them while they play video games.
NEWS
The Coast of Sucre - Venezuela's Most Dangerous Place for Piracy
CARIBBEAN
/
15 OCT 2021
Merchants travelling to Trinidad and Tobago, fishing vessels, even the occasional tourist – all are tempting targets for pirates off Venezuela’s northern state of Sucre. …
NEWS
Dissident FARC Guerrillas Repeatedly Try to Assassinate Colombia Governor
COCAINE
/
14 OCT 2021
The governor of Colombia's central department of Meta has survived two back-to-back assassination attempts, a rare case of a continued targeted assault against a senior public official by Colombian guerrillas.
NEWS
The Intimate Relationship Between Cocaine and Illegal Timber in Brazil's Amazon
BRAZIL
/
14 OCT 2021
For some time now, research has highlighted the significant volume of illegal logging in the Brazilian timber market and its relationship to deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
NEWS
Phone Extortion in Mexico Continuing to Rise Despite Low Success Rate
EXTORTION
/
13 OCT 2021
A new report claims the success rate of phone extortion is dropping in Mexico, but the fluid nature of this crime makes it difficult to prove.
Featured Reporting and Analysis
The photos showed five dead bodies laid out in the dirt, each with a gun or grenade close to an outstretched hand. The official report stated these were guerrillas who…
ELITES AND CRIME
/
13 OCT 2021
It was so simple once. The Gulf Cartel and its ancestors maintained control of Tamaulipas for eight decades.
FEATURED
/
6 OCT 2021
The fighting that erupted in the Venezuelan state of Apure in early 2021 was on the surface a classic guerrilla conflict.
EX-FARC MAFIA
/
13 OCT 2021
The Colombian guerrillas have won a battle against the Venezuelan military in the state of Apure. But they will never win the war. Nevertheless, the fighting made one thing clear:…
EX-FARC MAFIA
/
13 OCT 2021
Ecuador is reeling from its worst-ever prison massacre in Guayaquil but the factors that led to this situation could well be replicated in other countries across the region.
ECUADOR
/
30 SEP 2021
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InSight Crime Tackles Illegal Fishing
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