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Criminal Actors
Histories and profiles of organized crime groups, insurgencies, street gangs, vigilantes and the criminal actors that lead them.
Cartel of the Suns
CARTEL OF THE SUNS
/
MAY 14, 2022
The “Cartel of the Suns” (Cartel de los Soles) is the term used to describe the shadowy groups inside Venezuela’s…
Wilexis Alexander Acevedo Monasterios, alias 'Wilexis'
VENEZUELA PERSONALITIES
/
NOVEMBER 3, 2021
Wilexis Alexander Acevedo Monasterios has led the gang which bears his name since at least 2017. With between 150 and…
The Meleán
VENEZUELA GROUPS
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8 JAN 2021
For more than 40 years, the Meleán gang has ranked among the leading criminal groups within the criminal landscape of…
Fuerza Anti-Unión
MEXICO GROUPS
/
2020-11-13
La Fuerza Anti-Unión, which battles La Union Tepito for territories in Mexico City, has grown rapidly.
La Unión Tepito
LA UNIÓN TEPITO
/
MAY 9, 2022
La Unión Tepito takes its name from the notorious Mexico City neighborhood of Tepito, where it began.
El Salvador Profile
EL SALVADOR
/
15 SEP 2020
El Salvador is a relatively small but growing player in the drug trafficking business. It serves as…
Rotela Clan
CLAN ROTELA
/
AUGUST 23, 2020
Rotela Clan is a criminal group run by the Rotela family in Paraguay. It was originally specialized in the microtrafficking…
Second Marquetalia
COLOMBIA GROUPS
/
JULY 5, 2022
The Second Marquetalia is one of the largest group of dissident FARC, who rejected the 2016 peace process with the…
Ricardo Abel Ayala Orrego, alias 'Cabuyo'
COLOMBIA PERSONALITIES
/
APRIL 23, 2021
Ricardo Abel Ayala Ortega, alias "Cabuyo," is currently one of Colombia's highest value military targets and operates mainly in the…
Juan Antonio 'Tony' Hernández Alvarado
HONDURAS
/
SEPTEMBER 3, 2020
Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández Alvarado is a former Honduran congressman, the brother of former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández and…
Tren de Aragua
TREN DE ARAGUA
/
OCTOBER 21, 2021
The Tren de Aragua is Venezuela’s most powerful local "megabanda," or large criminal gangs with more than 100 members. This…
Latest
Record Fentanyl Seizures and Migrant Encounters on US-Mexico Border Are Unrelated
FENTANYL
/
28 SEP 2022
Migrant encounters and seizures of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl are often erroneously conflated and linked together.
How Peru's Coca Production is Helping the Global Cocaine Boom
COCA
/
27 SEP 2022
Increased coca cultivation in Peru provides the raw ingredient cocaine traffickers use when pushing into developing markets like Australia.
France Dealing with Influx of Cocaine from Caribbean Territories
CARIBBEAN
/
26 SEP 2022
The cocaine coming from France's territories of Guadeloupe, Martinique, and French Guiana to its mainland have doubled.
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