Criminal Actors

Histories and profiles of organized crime groups, insurgencies, street gangs, vigilantes and the criminal actors that lead them.

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Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 4 MAR 2021

Mato Grosso do Sul is among Brazil’s most strategic states for transnational crime.

Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

COCAINE / 4 MAR 2021

Strategically located between Argentina and Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul is a hub for contraband and drug smuggling.

Brazil Profile

BRAZIL / SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, has seen some important security advances in recent years, taking dozens of communities in Rio…

Guatemala Profile

GUATEMALA / 28 FEB 2021

Guatemala's criminal organizations are among the most sophisticated and dangerous in Central America. Some of them have been in operation…

Choneros

ECUADOR / MAY 10, 2023

Los Choneros is one of Ecuador’s most prominent criminal groups, which first emerged in the late 1990s as a drug…

Alto Paraguay, Paraguay

GEOGRAPHIC PROFILES / 25 FEB 2021

One of Paraguay’s most sparsely populated but most homicidal departments, Alto Paraguay serves as an important cocaine transit corridor.

Concepción, Paraguay

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 25 FEB 2021

In Concepción, powerful drug traffickers have penetrated local politics. With corruption rife, some municipalities have started to resemble criminal enclaves.

Itapúa, Paraguay

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 25 FEB 2021

Itapúa is a minor marijuana producer but an important transit corridor for cannabis smuggled into Argentina. Some areas of the…

Ñeembucú, Paraguay

COCAINE / 25 FEB 2021

Despite boasting one of Paraguay’s lowest murder rates, Ñeembucú is an important transit point for marijuana heading to Argentina.

Canindeyú, Paraguay

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 25 FEB 2021

Located on Paraguay’s border with Brazil, Canindeyú is a key criminal hub in the tri-border area.

Boquerón, Paraguay

COCAINE / 25 FEB 2021

Boquerón is an important part of regional cocaine trafficking routes due to its strategic location on Paraguay's border with Bolivia…

Alto Paraná, Paraguay

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 25 FEB 2021

Alto Paraná is home to some of Paraguay’s most dynamic criminal economies. Contraband goods continue to flood Brazil and Argentina…

Latest

Increasingly Brazen Gaitanistas Attack Colombia's Biggest Gold Mine

COLOMBIA / 9 JUN 2023

Colombia's biggest gold mine has come under attack from illegal miners. Experts blame the Gaitanistas, Colombia's foremost crime group.

Cocaine Seizures Spike in Sweden as Traffickers Seek Secondary Routes

COCAINE / 8 JUN 2023

Historic cocaine seizures in Sweden highlight the Nordic country's increasing role as a gateway for cocaine from Latin America to Europe.

How Grenades Became a Common Part of Venezuela's Criminal Arsenal

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 7 JUN 2023

In all of Latin America, Venezuela has a unique problem: constant grenade attacks by criminal gangs.

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A country-by-country breakdown of the news as well as key criminal groups and players across Latin America and the Caribbean.

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