At the end of every year, InSight Crime looks into the crystal ball and predicts what the big criminal risks are likely to be during 2017. These are what we see as the threats facing the Americas in the coming year.
The biggest threat is the exploding regional appetite for illegal drugs. In the 1980s and much of the 1990s, drug consumption was a “gringo” problem for the US and to a lesser extent Europe as the major consumers. Now Brazil only just trails the United States in consumption per capita and consumption is increasing across Latin America and the Caribbean. This is giving birth to a new mutation in organized crime.
Explore the rest of our annual GameChangers series here.
Series Chapters
GameChangers 2016: Elites, Organized Crime and Political Firestorms
Welcome to InSight Crime’s GameChangers 2016, where we highlight the most important trends in organized crime in the Americas. This year we put a spotlight on crime and corruption among the…
GameChangers 2016: Criminality and Organized Crime Thrives in Venezuela
This year has brought Venezuela to its knees — economically, politically and socially — providing organized crime with extremely fertile ground.
GameChangers 2016: Venezuela’s Cartel of the Suns Revealed
The Cartel of the Suns lived up to its name in 2016, moving from the shadows into the light with the exposure of new details about the network of corrupt officials…
GameChangers 2016: After Decade-long Drug War, Mexico Needs New Ideas
Mexico’s militarized drug war hit its tenth anniversary in 2016 amid widespread insecurity, spiking homicides, and new criminal battlegrounds.
GameChangers 2016: Militarization Continues Amid Ongoing Criticism
In 2016, governments continued to use militarized approaches to combating organized crime in Latin America, despite mounting evidence of human rights abuses and the limited long-term efficacy of such strategies.
GameChangers 2016: Sunset of the Central American Spring
As the year closed, the successes and failures of the fight against corruption, impunity and organized crime in the Northern Triangle combine to leave a bitter-sweet taste.
GameChangers 2016: Gang Evolution in Central America’s Southern Gateway
When it comes to Central America, all eyes are usually on the Northern Triangle. But 2016 saw local organized crime in Costa Rica and Panama — traditionally oases of calm in…
GameChangers 2016: El Salvador’s New (Ideology Free) Civil War
The already heated fight between El Salvador’s gangs and security forces began to resemble a low-intensity conflict in 2016, as the MS13 and Barrio 18 increasingly aligned against a government bent…
GameChangers 2016: Illegal Mining and Continuing Criminal Diversification
Latin America saw a boom in illegal mining in 2016, as organized crime recognized the potential of dirty gold.
GameChangers 2016: Still No Peace in Colombia
This year saw a Nobel Peace Prize for the Colombian president and two peace agreements with Marxist rebels. Yet an end to the fighting is still a ways off in this…
GameChangers 2016: Drug Production and Consumption – Patterns and Performance
The drug world in the Americas is undergoing seismic shifts with changing patterns of drug production and consumption that are reshaping organized crime in the region.
GameChangers 2016: Red Flags for 2017
At the end of every year, InSight Crime looks into the crystal ball and predicts what the big criminal risks are likely to be during 2017. These are what we see…
