In Costa Rica, the seizure of narco-assets presents more of an obstacle than a gift to authorities.
At a time when elites are undermining anti-graft efforts across Central America, prosecutors in Costa Rica have launched a far-reaching investigation into a bribery scheme between government officials and construction…
While Latin America is home to the trafficking of all manner of species, several foundations are working to save arguably its slowest-moving victims: the sloths.
The cat-and-mouse game of evading law enforcement was taken literally by drug smugglers recently in Panama, who hid cocaine on a feline and sent it into a prison.
The dismantling of a Costa Rican drug gang that worked with agents in an elite investigative unit to steal cocaine shipments from rival traffickers is yet another sign of the…
With owners of expensive lots kept away from Costa Rica because of COVID-19 restrictions, organized property fraud rings have enlisted corrupt notaries to steal properties.
Recent interceptions linked to the illicit smuggling of migrants at Nicaragua’s border with Costa Rica have illustrated the extent to which clandestine groups and individuals dedicated to the trade continue…
A string of recent arrests connecting judicial officials to drug trafficking organizations in Costa Rica have raised concerns that institutional corruption facilitating the trade is becoming more commonplace, as a…
A rush of drug plane traffic from South America, coupled with traffickers smuggling large cocaine shipments after coronavirus border restrictions eased, led to a surge in narcotics transiting Central America…
A sizeable seizure of adulterated rum shipped to Honduras from Europe reveals the extent to which black markets for alcohol in Latin America have expanded in response to limits on…
An experiment to track poached turtle eggs through the use of synthetic eggs equipped with GPS trackers in Costa Rica has offered a seductive new approach to fighting wildlife trafficking,…
The photos in the Costa Rican press showed Salvatore Ponzo, the Italian fruit exporter, with a neatly trimmed beard and polite smile, wearing polo shirts and baseball caps emblazoned with…
About InSight Crime
Who Are Memo Fantasma and Sergio Roberto de Carvalho?
Inside the criminal career of Memo Fantasma In March 2020, InSight Crime revealed the identity and whereabouts of Memo Fantasma, a paramilitary commander and drug trafficker living in…
Environmental and Academic Praise
InSight Crime’s six-part series on the plunder of the Peruvian Amazon continues to inform the debate on environmental security in the region. Our Environmental Crimes Project Manager, María Fernanda Ramírez,…
Series on Plunder of Peru’s Amazon Makes Headlines
Since launching on June 2, InSight Crime’s six-part series on environmental crime in Peru’s Amazon has been well-received. Detailing the shocking impunity enjoyed by those plundering the rainforest, the investigation…
Duarte’s Death Makes Waves
The announcement of the death of Gentil Duarte, one of the top dissident commanders of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), continues to reverberate in Venezuela and Colombia.
Cattle Trafficking Acclaim, Investigation into Peru’s Amazon
On May 18, InSight Crime launched its most recent investigation into cattle trafficking between Central America and Mexico. It showed precisely how beef, illicitly produced in Honduras, Guatemala…
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