The BACRIM and Their Position in Colombia's Underworld
The name BACRIM was created by the government of former President Alvaro Uribe in the aftermath of the demobilization of the AUC. Then-President Uribe was keen to draw a line…
The Urabeños - The Criminal Hybrid
The mad scramble for criminal power in the aftermath of the demobilization of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) is over. The Urabeños, or as they prefer to call…
Mexico Cartel Had Stake in 7 Tn Colombia Cocaine Load
More details have emerged on the transport and seizure of a record seven tons of cocaine at the Colombian port of Cartagena, revealing that the shipment, bound for Europe, also…
Brazil's PCC Gang Earns At Least $2.5 Mn a Month
The PCC, one of Brazil's two major prison gangs, earns at least $2.5 million a month from various criminal activities, making it now, arguably, the most powerful criminal syndicate in…
Seeking a Place in History – Nazario Moreno's Narco Messiah
In a 2012 interview with leading members of Mexico's Knights Templar -- including Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, alias "El Chayo" -- the organization's territorial grasp had seemingly reached its…
Mythical Leader of Mexico Cartel Dead - For Sure This Time
Marines have killed the founder of the Familia Michoacana and leader of the Knights Templar, a mythical figure in the Mexico underworld, who disappeared in 2010 and was…
World's Most Wanted, "Chapo" Guzman, Caught in Mexico
The world's most wanted criminal and prolific drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, has been captured at a beach resort in Mazatlan, calling into question the future of Mexico's most…
What Did the FARC Truce Tell Us?
The unilateral truce called by Colombia's rebels over Christmas ended with very few, but telling violations, suggesting that the guerrilla leadership is still seeing its orders obeyed for the most…
FARC Rebels Still Kidnapping in Colombia: Report
Colombian police reported that 292 cases of kidnapping were registered in 2013, of which 32 could be directly traced to the FARC, despite the rebel group's promise to cease the…
Peru to Undermine Shining Path Finances by Attacking Drug Trade
The government of Peru is launching a sustained offensive against the drug trade that finances the last remaining Shining Path stronghold, the VRAEM, seeking to eradicate drug crops and destroy…
Discrepancy Between Venezuela Murder Rates, Among the World’s Highest
While the Venezuela government, notorious for its manipulation of statistics, claimed that the homicide rate dropped in 2013, to 39 per 100,000 of the population, a rather more reliable NGO…
InSight Crime's Game Changers: 2012
InSight Crime presents "Game Changers 2012," an overview of the developments in organized crime in Americas during the year. So much has happened as organized crime mutates and spreads around…
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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