Nicaraguan Fisherman Ted Hayman Forbes and his drug trafficking network operated from Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and the Colombian island of San Andres in the Caribbean. His capture and sentencing…
Nicaragua Elites and Organized Crime
INVESTIGATIONS
/ 15 JUL 2021
Nicaragua has long been able to keep homicide rates down, burnishing the country’s anti-crime reputation. But as these case studies illustrate, the most sophisticated criminal groups often operate with a…
NEWS
Is Colombia’s Military Deployment Playing into FARC Dissidents’ Hands?
COLOMBIA
/
29 JUL 2021
Colombia’s announcement of a large-scale military deployment to Norte de Santander, one of its most complex criminal hotspots, has thrust a relatively small-scale criminal actor, the 33rd Front, to national…
NEWS
Brazilian Authorities Clamp Down on Cattle Theft
BRAZIL
/
29 JUL 2021
A number of arrests made to tackle a sophisticated cattle rustling operation in Brazil have suggested authorities are stepping up efforts to target the crime.
NEWS
Drug Gangs, Thieves Team Up for Violent Cargo Robberies in Rio
BRAZIL
/
28 JUL 2021
A cargo-theft ring in Rio de Janeiro partnered with a drug gang to steal millions of dollars’ worth of goods, showing how criminal actors in Brazil come together to commit…
NEWS
Fishing Cooperatives Used to Mask Drug Shipments into Mexico
COLOMBIA
/
28 JUL 2021
Mexico's largest criminal groups are outsourcing the retrieval of cocaine shipments to smaller groups posing as fishing cooperatives, providing another example of how maritime infrastructure is subverted by the drug…
NEWS
Migrants Disappearing, Dying as US-Mexico Border Remains Closed
HUMAN RIGHTS
/
27 JUL 2021
Reports of migrants dying and disappearing in the US-Mexico borderlands are becoming increasingly common, propelled in part by a restrictive border policy pushing people to cross through more remote and…
NEWS
Argentina Spares Mother Who Served as Drug Mule to Save Son
ARGENTINA
/
27 JUL 2021
Drug charges against a woman in Argentina were dropped after prosecutors learned that she had agreed to be a drug mule to pay for her son's surgery, in a case…
NEWS
Self-Defense Group Emerges After Criminal Attacks in Chiapas, Mexico
DISPLACEMENT
/
26 JUL 2021
Amid government inaction, Indigenous communities in the highlands of Mexico’s southern state of Chiapas are throwing their support behind a self-defense group that formed to fend off attacks by organized…
NEWS
Despite Outrage, Guatemala Continues to Bulldoze Anti-Corruption Edifice
ELITES AND CRIME
/
25 JUL 2021
The dismissal of Juan Francisco Sandoval, Guatemala's leading anti-corruption prosecutor who has since fled the country, has drawn condemnation at home and abroad.
NEWS
Religious Statuettes Branded as El Koki for Sale in Caracas
EL KOKI
/
23 JUL 2021
Salesmen in Caracas have come up with an enterprising response to the Venezuelan capital’s descent into criminal warfare: selling devotional statuettes dressed like members of El Koki's gang.
NEWS
FARC Dissidents Want Old Land Back in Colombia's Caquetá and Meta
COLOMBIA
/
23 JUL 2021
Once belonging to the demobilized FARC, certain criminal groups seek to reconquer surrendered assets, driving a wave of violence in southern and central Colombia.
Featured Reporting and Analysis
Convulsed by nearly eight weeks of anti-government protests, the Colombian city of Cali has also experienced a terrible surge in murders.
COLOMBIA
/
28 JUN 2021
El Coqui seemed to be comfortable. Caracas’ foremost gang boss had, for several years, dominated the sprawling neighborhood of Cota 905, a densely packed and poor part of western Caracas.
COLECTIVOS
/
25 JUN 2021
The murder of a prominent folk singer in Guatemala thrust a Nicaraguan nightclub owner into the spotlight and revealed an illicit drug trafficking network that stretched from Colombia to Mexico.
COCAINE
/
15 JUL 2021
Two days on from the nighttime assassination of Haiti President Jovenel Moïse in Port-au-Prince, competing theories have failed to provide any real motive for the high-profile hit.
CARIBBEAN
/
9 JUL 2021
In the process of expanding their influence, criminal groups often develop close ties with elites in an effort to gain protection and access to better resources. This facet of transnational…
ELITES AND CRIME
/
15 JUL 2021
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About InSight Crime
THE ORGANIZATION
Unraveling the Web of Elites Connected to Organized Crime
27 JUL 2021
InSight Crime published Elites and Organized Crime in Nicaragua, a deep dive into the relationships between criminal actors and elites in that Central American nation.
THE ORGANIZATION
InSight Crime’s Greater Focus on US-Mexico Border
20 JUL 2021
InSight Crime has decided to turn many of its investigative resources towards understanding and chronicling the criminal dynamics along the US-Mexico border.
THE ORGANIZATION
Key Arrests and Police Budget Increases Due to InSight Crime Investigations
8 JUL 2021
With Memo Fantasma’s arrest, InSight Crime has proven that our investigations can and will uncover major criminal threats in the Americas.
THE ORGANIZATION
Organized Crime’s Influence on Gender-Based Violence
30 JUN 2021
InSight Crime investigator Laura N. Ávila spoke on organized crime and gender-based violence at the launch of a research project by the United Nations Development Programme.
THE ORGANIZATION
Conversation with Paraguay Judicial Operators on PCC
24 JUN 2021
InSight Crime Co-director Steven Dudley formed part of a panel attended by over 500 students, all of whom work in Paraguay's judicial system.