Criminal Actors
Histories and profiles of organized crime groups, insurgencies, street gangs, vigilantes and the criminal actors that lead them.
Guerreros Unidos
The Guerreros Unidos are a splinter group of the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO) based in central Mexico. The group is…
Martin Farfan Diaz Gonzalez, alias ‘Pijarbey’
Martin Farfan Diaz Gonzalez, alias "Pijarbey" was a powerful criminal operative in Colombia's Eastern Plains region. He was the leader…
Libertadores del Vichada
The Libertadores del Vichada are a splinter group of the Popular Revolutionary Anti-Terrorist Army of Colombia (ERPAC) based in…
Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, alias ‘Chapo Isidro’
Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, alias "Chapo" or "Chapito" Isidro, is a relatively young, formerly low-profile figure believed to have operated…
Marcos de Jesus Figueroa Garcia, alias ‘Marquitos’
Marcos de Jesus Figueroa Garcia, alias "Marquitos," is a powerful underworld figure in Colombia's northeast provinces of La Guajira and…
Pure Third Command
The Pure Third Command (Terceiro Comando Puro) is one of the most powerful criminal groups in Brazil’s second largest city,…
Sinaloa Cartel
The Sinaloa Cartel, often described as the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization in the Western Hemisphere, is an…
Shining Path
The Shining Path or the Militarized Communist Party (Militarizado Partido Comunista - MPC) is the last remnant of Peru’s guerrilla…
Victor Navarro, alias ‘Megateo’
Victor Ramon Navarro Serrano, alias "Megateo," led the only remaining faction of the EPL guerrilla movement. Megateo was considered the…
Tijuana Cartel
The Tijuana Cartel, also known as the Arellano Felix Organization, is based in one of the most strategically important…
BLO
Led by the Beltran Leyva brothers, this Mexican drug trafficking organization worked with the Sinaloa Cartel before the two split…
Gulf Cartel
The Gulf Cartel is one of the oldest and most powerful of Mexicos criminal groups but has lost territory and…
Latest News
LatAm Crime Groups Set Sights on Europe’s Bustling Cocaine Market
With higher profits and lower risks than the United States, Europe has emerged recently as arguably the most important cocaine market in the world.
Colectivos Ramp Up Property Seizures in Venezuela
An increase in the number of reports of illegal invasions of homes and commercial establishments in Venezuela during the pandemic has revealed the ever-widening criminal portfolio managed by militant civilian…
French Guiana’s Unpatrolled Waters Lure Illegal Fishing Crews
Illegal fishing off the coast of French Guiana surged amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as French maritime patrols struggled to mobilize resources, luring illegal fishing crews to the country's pristine waters.
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