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Criminal Actors
Histories and profiles of organized crime groups, insurgencies, street gangs, vigilantes and the criminal actors that lead them.
Juarez Cartel
MEXICO GROUPS
/
12 SEP 2017
The Juárez Cartel is responsible for smuggling tons of narcotics from Mexico into the United States throughout its long and turbulent…
Tijuana Cartel
MEXICO GROUPS
/
12 SEP 2017
The Tijuana Cartel, also known as the Arellano Felix Organization, is based in one of the most strategically important Mexico…
Gulf Cartel
MEXICO GROUPS
/
12 SEP 2017
The Gulf Cartel is one of the oldest and most powerful of Mexicos criminal groups but has lost territory and influence in…
Sinaloa Cartel
MEXICO GROUPS
/
12 SEP 2017
The Sinaloa Cartel, often described as the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization in the Western Hemisphere, is an…
Familia Michoacana
MEXICO GROUPS
/
12 SEP 2017
At the height of its power, the Familia Michoacanas brutal tactics, strong base of operations and pseudo-religious ideology made it…
Cachiros
HONDURAS GROUPS
/
12 SEP 2017
The Cachiros were one of Honduras’ largest transport groups, with a net worth close to $1 billion. Made up of…
Perrones Cartel
EL SALVADOR GROUPS
/
11 SEP 2017
The Perrones are El Salvador’s most infamous transportation group. Made up of a mix of hoteliers, human smugglers, and contraband…
Texis Cartel
EL SALVADOR GROUPS
/
11 SEP 2017
Unlike some Central American gangs that have earned fame for their brutality and their liberal use of violence, the Cartel…
MS13
EL SALVADOR GROUPS
/
11 SEP 2017
The Mara Salvatrucha, or MS13, is perhaps the most notorious street gang in the Western Hemisphere. While it has its…
Latest News
Happy Mother’s Day from Your Friendly Neighborhood Cartel Boss
EL MENCHO
/
14 MAY 2021
In some regions of Mexico, family members who came up empty-handed this Mother's Day were bailed out by the Jalisco Cartel.
Bolivia Family Clans Key Cocaine Suppliers to Brazil, Colombia
BOLIVIA
/
14 MAY 2021
The extradition of a prominent Bolivian drug trafficker to Brazil has shed rare light on how family clans in the Andean nation serve as important cocaine suppliers to powerful organized…
Dirty Business – The Smuggling Pipeline Carrying Mercury Across the Amazon
BOLIVIA
/
13 MAY 2021
Smuggling networks are feeding illegal mining operations across the Amazon Basin with mercury, despite global efforts to clamp down on the use of the substance.
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