Bogotá's Microtrafficking Gangs Fuel Killings and Torture in Post-Pandemic Boom

A reconfiguration of the groups that control micro-trafficking in Colombia’s capital city is responsible for the series of macabre homicides reported in Bogotá over the last six weeks.

Uruguay's Microtrafficking Approach Under Question as Homicides Jump

A spate of gang-related killings has caused panic in a marginalized area of Uruguay’s capital of Montevideo, raising debate about the alleged success of the country’s hardening security strategies.

São Paulo's 'Crackland' Drug Market Finds New Real Estate

Residents of Brazil's largest open-air drug market may have permanently relocated amidst renewed police interventions and the possible orders of organized crime.

Chile's Microtrafficking Zero Program: Success or Failure?

After seven years in action, Chile's hardline strategy to rid the country of microtrafficking has been exported abroad, lauded as a remarkable success. But is the tough stance really working?…

El Koki or Wilexis – Who Runs Caracas’ Most Powerful Drug Gang?

Unsurprisingly, Caracas consumes more drugs than anywhere else in the country. And despite a catastrophic economic crisis, a handful of gangs continue to make strong profits from microtrafficking in the…

5 Animals Used to Smuggle Drugs in Latin America

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 Fuel Not the Fuse: Drug Trafficking and Ecuador's Prison Violence

Drug trafficking and transnational organized crime have been blamed for deadly riots among rival gangs in Ecuador's prisons, but the carnage has more to do with how the country's gangs…

’Tis The Season: How Drug Traffickers Get Creative At Christmas

As another Christmas passes us by, drug traffickers have been embracing the season to be jolly with open arms once again.

Drug Dealers in Brazil Accused of Bankrolling Soccer Games

To sell and promote their product, drug dealers in Rio de Janeiro have organized cash-prize soccer matches — in an example of how even low-level criminals use Brazil’s soccer-mad culture…

Drug Tunnel Discovery Highlights Battle for Mexico City’s Largest Market

The recent discovery of drug tunnels confirms how Mexico City's largest market continues to attract criminal groups, competing to dominate a range of illicit businesses there.

4 Ways Microtraffickers are Getting Around Coronavirus Restrictions

Just like many legal enterprises trying to find ways to get their products to customers despite the pandemic, microtraffickers in Latin America have had to adjust to new ways of…

Microtrafficking Getting Worse in Outskirts of Bogotá, Colombia

Three years ago, a massive police operation swept through the Bronx, a small neighborhood at the center of much of the drug trafficking, prostitution and gambling taking place in Colombia's capital city…