The Knights Templar (Cabelleros Templarios) emerged in March 2011 as a splinter group of the once-mighty Familia Michoacana. Like their predecessors, the Knights Templar cast themselves as a "self-defense" movement engaged in a struggle with Mexico's larger criminal cartels on behalf of the Michaocan population, and frequently employ religious imagery in their public communiques. The arrest or killing of several top leaders in 2014…
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Following the arrest of a former Mexican mayor in Guatemala, US prosecutors unveiled an indictment against him and criminal rivals…
Six months after a sophisticated robbery where gunmen hijacked gold and silver bars being loaded onto a plane in Mexico,…
It’s 7 pm on a Sunday, and night is falling in this Michoacán town. The heat of the day is…
Authorities in Mexico have arrested one of the last main leaders of the Knights Templar crime group, likely leaving…
A new collection of essays tackles patterns of cultish behavior and ritualized violence among illegal groups across the globe, from…
Throughout the continent, the debate on whether or not the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) gang is working with or for drug…
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Through several rounds of extensive field investigations, our researchers have analyzed and mapped out the main illicit economies and criminal groups present in 39 border departments spread across the six countries of study – the Northern Triangle trio of Guatemala, Honduras, and El…
The staff at InSight Crime was awarded the prestigious Simón Bolívar national journalism prize in Colombia for its two-year investigation into the drug trafficker known as “Memo Fantasma,” which was…
This project began 10 years ago as an effort to address a problem: the lack of daily coverage, investigative stories and analysis of organized crime in the Americas. …
In early 2009, Steven Dudley was in Medellín, Colombia. His assignment: speak to a jailed paramilitary leader in the Itagui prison, just south of the city. Following his interview inside…
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