Investigations

INVESTIGATIONS

Colombia Teachers – Last Line of Defense Against Forced Recruitment

COLOMBIA / 15 APR 2021

Colombia remains a hotspot for forced recruitment of minors. In this, the last of a three-part investigation by InSight Crime, journalist Mathew Charles looks at how school teachers are trying…

In Colombia, Child Soldiers Play Many Roles

COLOMBIA / 8 APR 2021

Children serve in a wide range of roles in criminal organizations: errand boy, landmine builder, frontline combatant and assassin. In this, the second of a three-part investigation by InSight Crime…

Bajo Cauca and Vaupés – Colombia’s Child Recruitment Hotspots

COLOMBIA / 1 APR 2021

As in the darkest days of Colombia's civil conflict, armed groups across the country continue to enlist and exploit teenage boys and girls. In this, the first of a three-part…

How an MS13 Clique in El Salvador Took a Cocaine Corridor

COCAÍNA / 23 MAR 2021

On the El Salvador’s eastern border, a subtle transfer of power could have seismic consequences in the underworld.

From Argentine Shrine to Marijuana Corridor: The Story of Itatí

ARGENTINA / 16 MAR 2021

An ambitious mayor, a well-connected deputy mayor, dirty cops, a corrupt judge, and a lot of marijuana. This is the story of Itatí, the sleepy town that went from religious…

Chasing Brazil’s Premier Money Launderer

BRAZIL / 4 MAR 2021

There were few better at money laundering than the Brazilian Dario Messer, who, while scrambling to save himself from Brazilian authorities, did one last tour of his prime refuge, Paraguay,…

Drug Trafficking and Political Protection in Paraguay: The Case of ‘Cucho’ Cabaña

ELITES AND CRIME / 25 FEB 2021

In a Paraguay border state, drug traffickers and dirty politicians find common ground, and political fights spill into the underworld.

One Party, Many Crimes: The Case of Honduras’ National Party

COCAINE / 16 FEB 2021

The party that has governed Honduras since 2010 has become a federation that welcomes politicians and officials involved in criminal businesses ranging from timber to drug trafficking to the misappropriation…

The Future of the Cocaine Trade to Europe

COCAINE / 9 FEB 2021

The flow of cocaine to Europe may have suffered along with most licit businesses due to the Covid-19 crisis, but few believe the damage to the drug trade will be…

Container Shipping: Cocaine Hide and Seek

BRAZIL / 9 FEB 2021

It was around 5 a.m. when the MSC Gayane cargo freighter docked in the port of Philadelphia on June 17, 2019. Instead of continuing on to its scheduled destination –…

The Rise of “Plata” over “Plomo:” The Cancer of Corruption

COCAINE / 9 FEB 2021

In July 2020, British drug trafficker Robert Dawes was sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in one of the most emblematic European drug trafficking cases of the…

Cocaine – The Criminal Steroid

COCAINE / 9 FEB 2021

Cocaine is a criminal steroid. Those that gain access to its riches enjoy accelerated growth and power – quickly – usually leaving a trail of violence and corruption in their…

The Italian Mafia and the Move Upstream

AUC / 9 FEB 2021

Operation ‘Tiburón Galloway’ began as a local investigation by prosecutors in the Italian region of Calabria in 2001, but quickly snowballed into a multinational, multiagency investigation.

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InSight Crime Events – Border Crime: The Northern Triangle and Tri-Border Area

ARGENTINA / 25 JAN 2021

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…

BRIEF

InSight Crime’s ‘Memo Fantasma’ Investigation Wins Simón Bolívar National Journalism Prize

COLOMBIA / 20 NOV 2020

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…

ANALYSIS

InSight Crime – From Uncovering Organized Crime to Finding What Works

COLOMBIA / 12 NOV 2020

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. …

ANALYSIS

InSight Crime – Ten Years of Investigating Organized Crime in the Americas

FEATURED / 2 NOV 2020

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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