News Analysis

Clans, Corruption and Cross-border Crime in Argentina

Argentina's criminal clans are growing stronger as domestic drug consumption rises, while trafficking networks now thrive in its border regions.

US Sends Mixed Messages on Aerial Spraying in Colombia

The US State Department’s annual drug control strategy report calls for Colombia to restart the aerial eradication of coca crops,…

Uruguay Remains Hub For Trafficking Women to Europe

A collaborative effort by authorities in Uruguay and Spain to dismantle an international sex trafficking network reveals that the South…

Ex-FARC Expand into Northern Colombia

A leader of what was once Colombia's largest guerrilla organization has announced the revival of one of its most formidable…

‘Cartel of the Robe’ Reveals High-Level Corruption in Colombia’s Courts

A former chief justice of Colombia’s Supreme Court has been found guilty of corruption in a case that illustrates how…

Will Drug Trial Finally Break US-Honduras Ties?

Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández once again stole the limelight in a major drug trafficking trial in the United States,…

Familial Fiefdom: Ocós, Guatemala and the Preciado Navarijo Legacy

The extradition of a mayor threatens to topple his family’s decades-long political control of a coastal Pacific town -- a…

Brazil’s Mining Regulator No Match For Illegal Gold Rush

The Brazilian agency that inspects mining sites and seizes illegally mined ore is vastly understaffed, a consequence of a government…

Latin America Sees Rise in Vaccine-related Crimes

As Latin American countries struggle to ramp up COVID-19 vaccination, crimes related to the illegal purchase of vaccines, including the…

A Toxic Trade: Illegal Mining in Colombia’s Pacific Region

Forests in Colombia are being ravaged by illegal mining, a criminal economy that has come to rival the drug trade…

Cartel Violence in Central Mexico Taking Hold in Jerez

Violence in the town of Jerez, in Mexico's central state of Zacatecas, has surged in 2021, as criminal groups fight…

Massacres Spike in Antioquia as Colombia’s Urabeños Expand

The central Colombian department of Antioquia has been the scene of four massacres over the first two months of 2021,…