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INVESTIGATIONS

State Resilience: Little Political Will for Protecting Peru's Amazon

ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME / 2 JUN 2022

While there are some efforts to build resilience, including the passing of new legislative frameworks and some other signs of political willingness to tackle the problem, there is still a…

Corruption at Every Level: Who Profits from Destruction of Peru's Amazon

ELITES AND CRIME / 2 JUN 2022

From unchecked agricultural development to wildlife trafficking, corruption greases the wheels of every environmental crime in the Peruvian Amazon.

A Toxic Trade: Illegal Mining in Peru's Amazon

ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME / 2 JUN 2022

Illegal gold mining drives the destruction of Peru's Amazon, where fortune seekers strip forests and leave behind poisonous pools of mercury.

Money Grows on Trees: Environmental Crime in Peru's Amazon

COCA / 2 JUN 2022

Peru’s Amazon, which covers nearly half of the Andean country, is rich in biodiversity and critical to the capture of carbon, which mitigates global warming. Political instability and corruption, however,…

Destructive Gold Mining Plagues Suriname, French Guiana Border

GOLD / 30 MAY 2022

Large-scale illegal gold mining is operating in plain sight on the Lawa River, a natural border between French Guiana and Suriname, despite public efforts from both governments to end the…

Illegal Coal Mine Killings Prompt Peruvian Authorities to Act

ILLEGAL MINING / 11 MAY 2022

Authorities have extended a state of emergency in Peru’s illegal coal mining heartland, already mired in criminality, following a sharp rise in killings as gangs battle for control of lucrative…

How Local Political Support Gives Illegal Miners Carte Blanche in Brazil's Amazon

BRAZIL / 4 MAR 2022

An alleged deal between government officials and illegal miners in Brazil’s Amazon led to the latter being provided with weapons in order to better secure their illicit earnings and fend…

GameChangers 2021: How Organized Crime Devoured the Amazon Rainforest

BRAZIL / 28 DEC 2021

There was record destruction of the Amazon in 2020, as the rainforest lost an area around the size of Belize, and the situation looks to be even bleaker in 2021.

‘The Rebel of the South’: Rise of the R Organization

ELITES AND CRIME / 17 NOV 2021

At around 11 p.m. on April 6, 2020, Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Solís was returning to the military base he commanded near the town of Tumeremo in the eastern Venezuela state…

The Governors, the Gang and the War for Bolívar's Gold

ELITES AND CRIME / 17 NOV 2021

On November 5, 2019, threatening pamphlets appeared on the streets of El Callao, a mining town in Venezuela's eastern state of Bolívar.

Small Aircraft Feed Illegal Mining Operations in Brazil's Amazon

BRAZIL / 6 OCT 2021

The scale of illegal mining on an Indigenous reserve deep in Brazil’s Amazon has grown so large that fleets of small aircraft are landing on remote airstrips to truck in…

A Long Way to Go: Responses to Environmental Crime in Colombia's Amazon

COCA / 29 SEP 2021

The presence of corrupt actors who have a vested interest in allowing environmental crime to happen coupled with an overall lack of capacity, resources and political will to combat related…

Corruption at Every Stage: Legal Actors Meet Criminal Networks

COCA / 22 SEP 2021

From ornamental fish trafficking to land grabbing, corruption greases the wheels of every environmental crime motor, feeding deforestation and biodiversity loss in Colombia’s Amazon region.

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Who Are Memo Fantasma and Sergio Roberto de Carvalho?

24 JUN 2022

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…

THE ORGANIZATION

Environmental and Academic Praise

17 JUN 2022

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,…

LA ORGANIZACIÓN

Series on Plunder of Peru’s Amazon Makes Headlines

10 JUN 2022

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…

THE ORGANIZATION

Duarte’s Death Makes Waves

3 JUN 2022

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.

THE ORGANIZATION

Cattle Trafficking Acclaim, Investigation into Peru’s Amazon 

27 MAY 2022

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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