Organized crime thrives amid political corruption and uncertainty. There will be plenty of this in Latin America in 2018, helping organized crime deepen its roots across the region over the…
An interview with the alleged co-ordinator of a drug trafficking network in Colombia has confirmed that transnational criminal groups operate in Costa Rica alongside local businesses and with the support…
A recent report has shed new light on the dynamics of the drug trade in Costa Rica, highlighting how transnational criminal groups have co-opted local individuals and industries to…
A new report shows the extent to which insecurity negatively affects the daily lives of Central American citizens, and provides further evidence that crime and corruption are important factors driving…
New details have emerged regarding the inner workings of a sophisticated organ trafficking network with international ties operating in Costa Rica, suggesting that the country's role in the international…
A government report on homicides in Costa Rica concludes that organized crime is driving the rising violence in the country, but the study's shaky methodology leaves it open to questions. …
The high and growing rate of imprisonment in the region is not leading to lower rates of violence and crime. In other words, we know that prisons are not the…
Nearly every country in Latin America is struggling to combat high rates of impunity, according to a new report that analyzes structural and human rights conditions contributing to crimes…
An increase in domestic drug sales and consumption in Costa Rica appears to be fueling rising homicides, but authorities have tended to blame foreign crime groups rather than focusing…
Ana Chaves was one of the hundreds of women who benefited from the "77 bis" reform, which reduced prison sentences to between three and eight years for the crime of…
Authorities in Costa Rica have arrested a former high-level police official for allegedly guarding a large cocaine shipment, suggesting that Costa Rican criminals have adopted a strategy seen elsewhere…
Recent reports suggest illegal gold mining and the associated trafficking of mercury are increasing in Costa Rica, providing evidence that organized crime groups in the country may be diversifying…
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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