Fewer Homicides Good Business for Colombia’s Organized Crime?
Colombias murder rate reached a 40-year low in 2015 despite evidence to suggest organized crime in the country is thriving, raising the question of what could lie behind…
El Salvador Authorities Expose Financial Interests of MS13 Leaders
One of the largest operations ever launched against El Salvador's MS13 gang confirmed what has long been suspected -- the gang's leadership maintain extensive and sophisticated financial networks that extend…
Colombia Investigation Reveals Workings of Wildlife Traffickers
Authorities in Colombia say they have dismantled the largest wildlife trafficking ring ever discovered in the country, lifting the veil on the shadowy networks behind a lucrative, but widely underreported…
Panama Canal Expansion Could Boost Drug Trafficking: Interpol
Interpol has warned that drug traffickers could capitalize on the expansion of the Panama Canal, in a reminder of the crucial but often underreported role of maritime shipping in the…
Ecuador Emerges as Trafficking Hub for Peru’s Illegal Gold
An investigation in Ecuador has revealed how the country has become a major transit hub for illegal Peruvian gold exported to the United States, an evolution directly linked to Peru's…
Is the Global Cocaine Trade in Decline?
The latest United Nations drug report poses a question with major implications for Latin American organized crime: is the global cocaine market shrinking?…
Report Claims Huge Rise in Venezuela Kidnappings
Kidnappings in Venezuela have risen 170% in 2016 according to a new report based on citizen perceptions, highlighting the inability of the state to provide security as economic and political…
Venezuela Criminal Arsenals Widen to Include Grenades
Venezuela has seen the highest number of deaths and injuries from grenades in Latin America over the past three years, with corruption in the military making soldiers both a cause…
The FARC and Child Soldiers: A Question of Reintegration
Following the announcement that Colombia's FARC guerrillas will release minors from its ranks as part of peace negotiations with the government, the Council on Hemispheric Affairs examines what will become…
How LatAm Failed to Halt Rise of Illegal Gold Mining
A new report on organized crime and gold mining in Latin America offers insight into how states, the international community, and the private sector have failed to control a criminal…
26% of El Salvador Homicides Linked to Gang Members
Just over 26 percent of people convicted of murder in El Salvador in 2015 were gang members, according to new statistics that undermine the government's assertions about what is driving…
Southwest Colombia to Initiate Coca Eradication Program
Colombia's government will be launching an experimental program -- developed during peace talks with the FARC guerrillas -- for reducing coca crops in the conflict-ridden municipality of Tumaco. However, it…
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InSight Crime Events – Border Crime: The Northern Triangle and Tri-Border Area
Through several rounds of extensive field investigations, our researchers have analyzed and mapped out the main illicit economies and criminal groups present in 39 border departments spread across the six countries of study – the Northern Triangle trio of Guatemala, Honduras, and El…
InSight Crime’s ‘Memo Fantasma’ Investigation Wins Simón Bolívar National Journalism Prize
The staff at InSight Crime was awarded the prestigious Simón Bolívar national journalism prize in Colombia for its two-year investigation into the drug trafficker known as “Memo Fantasma,” which was…
InSight Crime – From Uncovering Organized Crime to Finding What Works
This project began 10 years ago as an effort to address a problem: the lack of daily coverage, investigative stories and analysis of organized crime in the Americas. …
InSight Crime – Ten Years of Investigating Organized Crime in the Americas
In early 2009, Steven Dudley was in Medellín, Colombia. His assignment: speak to a jailed paramilitary leader in the Itagui prison, just south of the city. Following his interview inside…
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