How Black Market Ear Tags Help Flow of Contraband Cattle

Cattle from Mexico and the Central American nations of Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua help feed the domestic beef markets of each of these countries. The processed byproducts of some of…

Colombia's Caribbean Drug Route Alive and Well Around San Andres Archipelago

A record cocaine seizure off the coast of Colombia’s San Andres is the latest in a string of million-dollar drug hauls in which speedboats were intercepted near the Caribbean archipelago,…

What are the Most Corrupt Countries in Latin America?

Latin American countries scored poorly on Transparency International’s latest corruption index, with the worst joining the ranks of war-torn nations and dictatorships.

InSight Crime's 2021 Homicide Round-Up

In 2021, most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean experienced a marked increase in murders. Resurgent violence was to be expected after some of the world’s strictest COVID-19 lockdowns…

GameChangers 2021: US Losing War on Corruption in Central America

The United States, under the Biden administration, was supposed to help curb corruption, but for corrupt officials in Central America, life has rarely looked better.

Costa Rica's Devil - Bloody Drug Feud Catches Authorities Off Guard

An unusually drawn-out feud between two rival gangs in northern Costa Rica has left over 150 people dead in five years, with authorities making a renewed push to end the…

Colombia's San Andrés Losing Battle Against Illegal Fishing

As Colombia and Nicaragua continue battling over fishing rights and policing around the Caribbean archipelago of San Andrés, its waters have become vulnerable to illegal fishing from vessels across the…

Is the MS13 in Honduras Expanding its Role in the Regional Drug Trade?

US prosecutors have charged an alleged MS13 leader in Honduras and another man thought to be one of his main drug and weapons providers with international cocaine trafficking charges, raising…

Nicaragua Elites and Organized Crime: Ted Hayman, the Cocaine Fisherman

Nicaraguan Fisherman Ted Hayman Forbes and his drug trafficking network operated from Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and the Colombian island of San Andres in the Caribbean. His capture and sentencing…

Nicaragua Elites and Organized Crime: The Case of Henry Fariñas

The murder of a prominent folk singer in Guatemala thrust a Nicaraguan nightclub owner into the spotlight and revealed an illicit drug trafficking network that stretched from Colombia to Mexico.

Nicaragua Elites and Organized Crime: Introduction

In the process of expanding their influence, criminal groups often develop close ties with elites in an effort to gain protection and access to better resources. This facet of transnational…

Honduran Fugitive More Money Launderer than MS13 Leader

Prosecutors in Honduras say they will ask Nicaragua to extradite an alleged MS13 leader who has been on the lam for five years since being charged with money laundering -…