Since the end of El Salvador’s civil war, the country’s police has become a key player in the underworld. This series of five articles explore the dark ties between criminal organizations and the government’s key crime-fighting arm.
Corruption in El Salvador: Politicians, Police and Transportistas
EL SALVADOR
/
6 MAR 2014
Chapter 1
The Infiltrators: Corruption in El Salvador's Police
CHEPE LUNA
/
21 FEB 2014
Ricardo Mauricio Menesses Orellana liked horses, and the Pasaquina rodeo was a great opportunity to enjoy a party. He was joined at the event -- which was taking place in the…
Chapter 2
'Chepe Luna,' the Police and the Art of Escape
CHEPE LUNA
/
21 FEB 2014
The United States -- which through its antinarcotics, judicial and police attaches was very familiar with the routes used for smuggling, and especially those used for people trafficking and understood…
Chapter 3
Operation Chameleon in El Salvador: Anatomy of a Failure
EL SALVADOR
/
5 MAR 2014
The experience with Jose Natividad "Chepe" Luna -- the drug trafficker who had eluded a giant dragnet in 2004 -- had demonstrated that the leaks from the National Police of…
Chapter 4
How an El Salvador Drug Trafficker Smuggled Cocaine Into the US
EL SALVADOR
/
6 MAR 2014
The woman phoned the office of the antinarcotics division (DAN) in Bolivar, in El Salvador's La Union province, on August 13, 2008, at 1:30 PM. Investigators later established that what…
Chapter 5
The Fixer and El Salvador's Missed Opportunity
EL SALVADOR
/
6 MAR 2014
In the photograph, they are both smiling. In the foreground, on the left hand side, a man in a short-sleeved buttoned white shirt, jeans and a metal watch, holds a…
Related Content
EL SALVADOR
/
24 JAN 2013
Two days before Christmas Eve 2012, a group of gang members and state intelligence agents met with the Flores Escobar…
EL SALVADOR
/
1 FEB 2016
Venezuela's capital city of Caracas is and will be, until January of next year at least, considered the world's most…
EL SALVADOR
/
29 OCT 2013
A recorded phone call between MS13 members imprisoned in El Salvador and leaders in the United States indicates an increasingly sophisticated…
About InSight Crime
THE ORGANIZATION
Gender and Investigative Techniques Focus of Workshops
26 NOV 2021
On November 23-24, InSight Crime conducted a workshop called “How to Cover Organized Crime: Investigation Techniques and A Focus on Gender.” The session convened reporters and investigators from a dozen…
THE ORGANIZATION
InSight Crime Names Two New Board Members
19 NOV 2021
In recent weeks, InSight Crime added two new members to its board. Joy Olson is the former executive director of the Washington Office on Latin America…
THE ORGANIZATION
Senate Commission in Paraguay Cites InSight Crime
12 NOV 2021
InSight Crime’s reporting and investigations often reach the desks of diplomats, security officials and politicians. The latest example occurred in late October during a commission of Paraguay's Senate that tackled…
THE ORGANIZATION
Backing Investigative Journalism Around the Globe
5 NOV 2021
InSight Crime was a proud supporter of this year's Global Investigative Journalism Conference, which took place November 1 through November 5 and convened nearly 2,000 journalists…
THE ORGANIZATION
Tracking Dirty Money and Tren de Aragua
29 OCT 2021
InSight Crime was delighted to support investigative reporting in the Americas through a workshop with our friends at Connectas, a non-profit journalism initiative that facilitates collaboration…
#SupportFreePress
Support Our Work
Investigating organized crime is an expensive and often risky enterprise. Reaching primary sources and getting the real story involve extensive fieldwork. Please donate. Every dollar supports our mission.
DONATE NOW
Stay Informed with Weekly InSight
Get fresh updates on organized crime from across the region delivered to your inbox.
SUBSCRIBE