4 Reasons Why Peru Became World's Top Cocaine Producer
In 2013, the UN confirmed Peru had overtaken Colombia as the world's number one coca and cocaine producer. How could this happen in a relatively peaceful nation with a booming…
Colombia's Police Tighten Noose Around Urabeños Leader
Police in Colombia appear to be closing in on the country's most wanted criminal, the military leader of the mighty Urabeños, Dario Antonio Usuga, alias "Otoniel."…
20 Years After Pablo: The Evolution of Colombia's Drug Trade
Twenty years ago, on December 2, 1993, Pablo Escobar, the pioneer of Colombia's cocaine trade, was killed on a rooftop in his native Medellin by police. His death signaled the…
Gangs Are the New Law in Urban Trinidad & Tobago
Recent incidents of intense violence in Trinidad & Tobago's capital, Port-of-Spain, have drawn attention to the nation's rampant gang problem.
Medellin Truce Inches Groups Closer to Criminal Hegemony
The Medellin mafia, fragmented through bitter infighting, has called a truce and made an agreement with their rivals the Urabeños, seeking to rebuild the criminal hegemony once enjoyed by the…
Narco-Islands: Mexico Ends One Journey, Starts Another
In Mexico, the coasts and islands are left unprotected by the authorities, opening them up to drug trafficking interests. This is why an ex-governor can buy an island; why criminals…
Diego Rastrojo Extradited from Colombia: The End of the Rastrojos?
The extradition to the United States of the founder of the Rastrojos, at one time Colombia's most powerful criminal syndicate, signals the end of the group and the triumph of…
Peru's Shining Path Leaders Expected Party not Ambush
The Shining Path leaders killed in a Peruvian security force ambush allegedly thought they were meeting a drug trafficker to party and enjoy prostitutes, but the trafficker had become a…
Shootout on Colombia-Ecuador Border Claims 6 Lives
The Ecuadorean army engaged a Colombian "irregular group," most likely FARC rebels, in a pitched battle that resulted in the deaths of an Ecuadorean officer and five Colombians, again showing…
Weapons Surrendered by El Salvador's Maras Useless
Revelations that weapons handed over by Mara gangs do not work, combined with rising murder rates, are calling into question the validity of the truce between El Salvador's two main…
Colombia Seeks to Contain Extortion by Doubling Sentences
Colombia, suffering explosive growth in extortion demands, is seeking to almost double sentences for those convicted of the crime.
Colombian Rebels Exporting Marijuana: Army
More than two tons of marijuana, destined for export, have been traced back to the rebels of the FARC, revealing that cocaine is not the only money spinner for the…
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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