Shrimp Gangs Rob, Extort, Kill in Ecuador
The persistent robbery, extortion, assault and even murder of shrimp farm workers by armed gangs in Ecuador has led the shrimp sector to once more demand gun reforms, in a…
Brazil Hits Enter on Digital Piracy Crackdown
Brazilian authorities have launched a nationwide operation against digital piracy in conjunction with US and UK law enforcement, the country’s most recent attempt at tackling what has become a widespread,…
COVID-19: Gangs, Statemaking, Threats and Opportunities
It was March 2020, not long after fear of the coronavirus began spreading across the Americas, when several major criminal groups started employing their own form of a lockdown.
'We Ruled' - Excerpt from MS-13: The Making of America's Most Notorious Gang
Alma* arrived in Texas like so many others had and would in the years to come: on her own. She had just turned fourteen, and she was one of many…
El Salvador President Gains Most From Prosecution of Rivals
The evidence used to indict several high-ranking politicians in El Salvador for negotiating with gangs has been around for years, raising questions about why prosecutors are bringing the cases now,…
Bolivia Coca Growers Fight for Control of Legal Production
Violent tensions are flaring in Bolivia's capital between hostile factions of one of the country's coca growers’ unions, escalating a long-simmering conflict for control of legal coca production in the…
Netflix’s Triple Frontier: Oscar Winner of Narco-Exploitation Movies
With a script that makes little sense and drug-related elements force-fed into the narrative, Triple Frontier appears nothing more than an action-packed movie trying to surf on the wave of…
InSight Crime Podcast: The Presidents' Judge
If you ever met the Colombian judge Ivan Velasquez, you would not think he is the giant-slayer that he is.
Ex-FARC Mafia: The New Player in Colombian Organized Crime
The Marxist rebel army of the FARC is gone, disbanded and reborn as a political party. But the ex-FARC mafia is just coming into being. And it is poised to…