In El Salvador, crackdowns have led to rapid improvements in security. But there is real doubt about whether gangs are gone for good or what Bukele’s real motives may have…
While thousands of gang members have been arrested in El Salvador, some may have moved their activities to Mexico.
To Desafio, the Barrio 18 gang in Honduras was everything. It provided a family, a sense of belonging. Until his life grew increasingly violent.
El Salvador's ruthless gang crackdown has led to mass incarceration and human rights abuses. But will it be replicated elsewhere?…
The escalation of El Salvador's gang crackdown in the city of Soyapango has raised severe questions as to whether gang members are really still being rooted out.
Honduras declared a state of exception as extortion cases rise, suspending constitutional rights in cities and deploying thousands of troops.
In the mountains of Michoacán, Mexico, Carlos was trained to become a ruthless soldier for the Cárteles Unidos.
Almost four months into a nationwide crackdown, El Salvador's government has failed to disarm its notorious street gangs.
El Salvador has arrested over 40,000 alleged gang members. This seems shocking but it is not without precedent in the country.
As part of his sweeping gang crackdown, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has overseen the mass imprisonment of tens of thousands of people, potentially jeopardizing recent efforts to mitigate overcrowding…
With a near unprecedented wave of arrests, the El Salvador government is doubling down and expanding on heavy-handed security policies, known as mano dura, that have consistently failed to yield…
A killing spree unlike anything seen since El Salvador’s civil war has delivered a macabre message from the country’s street gangs, which have learned that spikes in homicides speak to…
Dozens of Barrio 18 members in El Salvador allegedly conspired with street vendors to divert pandemic relief funds.
This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…
Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…
This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.
This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…
Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…
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