Our Impact
16 years understanding organized crime in the Americas.
Impact Framework
Data & Fieldwork
+450
Judicial
Cases
Our investigations have been utilized in legal proceedings across the United States and Spain, proving the structural value of our analysis.
600k
Database
Records
We maintain the most comprehensive data repository on organized crime in Latin America.
+300
Field Trips
We travel extensively across the region to conduct deep-field reporting, gathering vital ground truth directly from diverse human sources.
Civil Society
Engagement
We regularly collaborate with civic organizations throughout the Americas to strengthen community and institutional resilience.
Over 2,000 maps and infographics illustrating how organized crime operates and evolves across the Americas
We translate complex field data into clear, accessible visuals. By charting territorial control and illicit supply chains, these maps and infographics make regional dynamics accessible and clear for policymakers, researchers, and media. While some of our visual assets are available to the public, many are produced exclusively for our private reports and research.
We are quoted by:
Governments
Security Institutions
Multilateral Organizations
Global Media
Prizes & Recognitions
InSight Crime has won several prizes over the years in Latin America, Europe, and the United States.
Lukas Prize
Category: Best Books 2020
Book: MS-13: The Making of America’s Most Notorious Gang
Steven Dudley
2019
Simón Bolívar National Prize
Category: Investigative Journalism
Investigation: The Invisible Drug Trafficker: On the Trail of Memo Fantasma
Jeremy McDermott
2020
Ortega y Gasset
El País of Spain
Investigation: Moskitia: The Honduran jungle drowning in cocaine
Juan José Martínez / Bryan Avelar
2024
Inter-American Press Association
Category: In-Depth Journalism
Investigation: The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP) / Narcofiles
Douwe Den Held / Anastasia Austin
2024
Maria Moors Cabot prize
Columbia Journalism School
Category: Long live achievement
InSight Crime
2024
Simón Bolívar National Prize
Category: Investigative Journalism
Investigation: The informants of Tibú: how the Colombian state unleashed a wave of femicides
Alicia Flórez and Lara Loaiza
2024
Events
InSight Crime regularly hosts academic, journalistic, and policy forums focused on organized crime and public security dynamics across Latin America and the Caribbean. Our events bridge the gap between deep-field research and strategic decision-making through three main formats.
Exclusive Donor Events: Private panels for donors and partners where our directors and senior investigators deliver deep-dive analyses on organized crime dynamics.
Investigative Launches: Presentations showcasing the findings of our investigative series, which track everything from shifting cartel dynamics to the evolution of synthetic drugs like fentanyl.
Workshops: Tailored workshops led by expert staff, delivering practical analysis on criminal organizations, illicit economies, and security dynamics to help clients navigate risk.
Reports and PDFs
InSight Crime’s downloadable reports and PDFs serve as definitive, high-impact resources for policymakers, academics, and security experts worldwide. Grounded in extensive deep-field investigation and rigorous data analysis, these comprehensive publications dismantle the complex structures of transnational organized crime across the Americas. Our core publications include the widely cited Homicide Round-Up and the Cocaine Seizure Round-Up, available exclusively to our regular donors.
Our History
Launching InSight Crime
In the heart of Medellín, Colombia—once the epicenter of the cocaine trade—InSight Crime was born. With backing from Open Society Foundations and academic support from American University, we launched www.insightcrime.org. Our mission: to uncover the hidden workings of organized crime across the Americas through investigative journalism rooted in field reporting and human stories.
Crossing Borders
Our first investigations set the tone: an arms trafficking report with Frontline traced weapons from the United States into Mexico. In Guatemala, we revealed the incursion of Mexico’s Zetas into new territory—our videos were viewed over 200,000 times. The message was clear: no place is too remote, and no criminal too invisible.
Going Deep, Going Wide
Breaking from our initial host institution, we established Fundación InSight Crime and expanded regionally—from Mexico and Central America to the Andes and Caribbean. We began telling the stories most ignored: modern slavery, violence against migrants, and systemic criminal governance.
War and Peace
With Colombia’s peace talks underway, we chronicled the FARC’s relationship with the cocaine trade and the emergence of post-conflict criminal dynamics. In El Salvador, we dissected how war shaped its police—and how fragile truces unraveled under gang pressure.
Corruption, Justice, and Vigilantes
Organized crime flourishes when the state fails. We exposed Guatemala’s judicial corruption, the rise of vigilante groups in Mexico, and Colombia’s Urabeños filling the vacuum left by paramilitaries. Our Spanish-language site launched, doubling our impact across Latin America.
Rethinking Narratives
We questioned conventional views. Netflix glamorized “Narcos”—we called out its myths. We unpacked the economic engines behind organized crime and drew connections between terrorism and trafficking long before others dared.
Elites and Crime
We published a groundbreaking series exposing political, business, and bureaucratic elites in Honduras, Guatemala, and Colombia tied to criminal networks. Our investigations helped inform real legal action and policy reform.
Post-Conflict, New Wars
In Colombia’s fragile post-FARC phase, we visited over 150 municipalities to track new criminal formations. Simultaneously, we studied arms trafficking in Honduras and mapped gang-linked homicides in Guatemala.
Mapping the Gangs
Our landmark MS13 investigation traced the group’s roots and mutations across the region. We revealed how extortion sustained these networks and what strategies failed to stop them.
Mafia States
We introduced a new concept: the “mafia state.” Venezuela’s descent into kleptocracy, illegal campaign financing in Guatemala, and criminal fiefdoms in Central America became focal points.
Unmasking the Invisibles
We tracked a drug lord who hid in plain sight for years—”Memo Fantasma”—resulting in one of Colombia’s biggest scandals. We also began delving into gender dynamics in organized crime and the rise of synthetic drugs like fentanyl.
Expanding the Lens
We documented how environmental crime and organized crime intersect. Our Amazon Basin research (with Igarapé Institute) made waves. We also contributed to NarcoFiles, a major cross-border investigative effort.
Voices from the Margins
We visited Honduras’ only women’s prison weeks before a massacre. Our reporting on Johanna, a falsely accused Salvadoran woman, led to her release. In Moskitia, we documented how drug trafficking is displacing Indigenous communities.
Global Recognition, Local Roots
We won the Ortega y Gasset, Simón Bolívar, and Maria Moors Cabot awards. But more importantly, we remained true to our roots: reporting from the ground, telling the otherwise untold. Our dream team of reporters now covers the full map—from Haiti to Paraguay.
