Investigations

INVESTIGATIONS

Peace Leaders in Putumayo, Colombia Bet Their Lives on Coca Crop Substitution

COCA / 1 MAR 2023

Social leaders in Putumayo, Colombia, hope coca crop substitution can bring opportunities to communities. But supporting it may mean death.

The Inescapable Prison of Barrio 18 in Honduras

BARRIO 18 / 17 JAN 2023

To Desafio, the Barrio 18 gang in Honduras was everything. It provided a family, a sense of belonging. Until his life grew increasingly violent.

Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations' New Marijuana Strategies

CHAPITOS / 6 DEC 2022

In response to changes in the international marijuana trade, Mexico-based drug trafficking groups have shifted their strategies.

As Marijuana Fades, Sinaloa’s Organized Crime Does Not

MARIJUANA / 6 DEC 2022

The shift from plant-based to synthetic drugs has upended the relationship between small farmers and crime groups in Mexico’s Golden Triangle.

The Chapitos’ Monopoly on Drug Sales in Culiacán, Sinaloa

CHAPITOS / 6 DEC 2022

Local drug sales in Sinaloa’s capital city are controlled by one of the most notorious and powerful organized crime families in Mexico.

Executive Summary and Major Findings

MARIJUANA / 6 DEC 2022

Today, most of the marijuana consumed in the United States is produced domestically, changing the game in the international drug market.

Cocaine Brokers: The Flexible Backbone of the ’Ndrangheta Trafficking Empire

ARGENTINA / 23 NOV 2022

Rocco Morabito embodied the 'Ndrangheta business model in Latin America. Read about his incredible story here.

The 'Ndrangheta Connection to Colombia's Paramilitaries

AUC / 23 NOV 2022

A close relationship between a Colombian warlord and an Italian restaurateur would lead to Europe being flooded with cocaine by the 'Ndrangheta.

The 'Ndrangheta: Versatile Middlemen in the Cocaine Pipeline to Europe

COCAINE / 23 NOV 2022

The 'Ndrangheta have made the Italian port of Gioia Tauro crucial to their European cocaine empire by controlling it with corruption and threats.

Legal Frameworks to Protect the Amazon Are Being Sorely Tested

ECUADOR / 8 NOV 2022

Environmental crime is devastating the Amazon. What are these five Amazonian states doing to protect it?…

Corruption: The Common Source of Environmental Crime in the Amazon

ELITES AND CRIME / 8 NOV 2022

Across the countries that share the Amazon basin, corruption that facilitates environmental crime is an open secret.

Wildlife Trafficking Preys on the Amazon Basin

BOLIVIA / 8 NOV 2022

The Amazon is one of the world’s most biodiverse regions, where wildlife trafficking threatens hundreds of thousands of species.

Beneath The Surface of Illegal Gold Mining in the Amazon

BRAZIL / 8 NOV 2022

As gold prices have skyrocketed, a boom in mining across the Amazon Basin has flourished, leaving a deep environmental footprint.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…