How Narcos Use World Cup Mania to Smuggle Cocaine
The use of World Cup merchandise to smuggle cocaine around the world points to a longstanding relationship between drug trafficking and soccer, one of the world’s most-loved sports.
Colombia Law Letting Crime Groups Surrender May Be Too Little Too Late
A new law in Colombia allowing for the collective surrender of criminal groups may have little success, since the country’s fragmented underworld doesn't incentivize crime bosses to rally their people…
How Will Colombia’s Next President Fight Organized Crime?
Colombia’s presidential election, scheduled for May 27, comes at a critical time in the country’s history. The peace process with the FARC is underway, but new criminal dynamics are presenting…
FBI Names Mexico's 'Narco of Narcos' to Top 10 Most Wanted List
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation just added one of Mexico's most legendary gangsters, Rafael Caro Quintero, to its list of most wanted fugitives. But 40 years after his heyday,…
4 Troubling Takeaways From FARC Leader’s Arrest
The arrest of Seuxis Paucis Hernández Solarte, alias “Jesús Santrich,” has shaken the FARC party, tried the new peace courts, and implicated scores of other underworld figures, including Mexico’s “Narco…
Dire Outlook for Colombia Peace Process After FARC Leader's Arrest
The bold arrest of one of the FARC’s top leaders on drug charges has shaken Colombia’s peace process, uncovered ties between a FARC politician and criminalized splinter groups wreaking havoc…
Medellín Exhibition Commemorates Violence, Resistance in Colombia
Medellín, Colombia is a city of paradoxes. Its multifacted nature is showcased in a powerful new exhibition that tells a story of local resistance to decades of extreme violence.
Colombia's Last Guerrillas Fight Over Cocaine Hub
On the same day that Colombia’s biggest guerrilla group, the ELN, resumed peace talks with the government, on 15 March reports emerged of a battle between the rebels and narcoguerrillas embedded…
Ex-FARC Mafia Boss Had Cocaine Network, Mexico Ties
The recent arrest of an ex-FARC criminal boss who controlled swathes of drug trafficking territory points to a key scenario in Colombia’s new criminal era: former members of the guerrilla army…
Venezuela Seizes Tons of Contraband Cable
Recent copper seizures in Venezuela show that basic supplies continue to seep out of the country as its economic crisis deepens, and people take desperate measures to earn extra…
Colombia Holds Its Ground in Drug War of Words With US
Amid heated discord between the United States and Colombia regarding surging drug production in the South American country, Colombian officials are making it clear that they are not buckling under…
About InSight Crime
Who Are Memo Fantasma and Sergio Roberto de Carvalho?
Inside the criminal career of Memo Fantasma In March 2020, InSight Crime revealed the identity and whereabouts of Memo Fantasma, a paramilitary commander and drug trafficker living in…
Environmental and Academic Praise
InSight Crime’s six-part series on the plunder of the Peruvian Amazon continues to inform the debate on environmental security in the region. Our Environmental Crimes Project Manager, María Fernanda Ramírez,…
Series on Plunder of Peru’s Amazon Makes Headlines
Since launching on June 2, InSight Crime’s six-part series on environmental crime in Peru’s Amazon has been well-received. Detailing the shocking impunity enjoyed by those plundering the rainforest, the investigation…
Duarte’s Death Makes Waves
The announcement of the death of Gentil Duarte, one of the top dissident commanders of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), continues to reverberate in Venezuela and Colombia.
Cattle Trafficking Acclaim, Investigation into Peru’s Amazon
On May 18, InSight Crime launched its most recent investigation into cattle trafficking between Central America and Mexico. It showed precisely how beef, illicitly produced in Honduras, Guatemala…
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