Female members of a cell of Brazil’s violent PCC prison gang ordered and carried out the killing of another woman, challenging the assumption that women only occupy the gang’s lowest…
Nearly two dozen police officers in Paraguay are accused of protecting a transnational drug smuggling ring led by a Brazilian trafficker, providing renewed evidence of the profound corruption within the…
André de Oliveira Macedo, a leader in Brazil's largest gang who was arrested in mid-September, was sitting on a fortune estimated at millions of dollars, showing the vast criminal profits…
The recent arrests of two members of the ‘Ndrangheta in São Paulo have further highlighted the increasingly close partnership between the Italian mafia and Brazil’s PCC -- two of the…
A gruesome prison massacre in northern Brazil has raised serious questions about potential shifts in criminal alliances in a highly strategic region of this South American nation.
The brutal murder of a Brazilian drug trafficker seemingly carried out by a Paraguayan gang has shown how escalating violence is impacting the border state of Mato Grosso do Sul,…
Brazilian prison gang the PCC has laundered an estimated $15 million of drug money through accounts opened by relatives of jailed members, demonstrating the growing sophistication of the gang’s criminal…
Argentina, Chile and Brazil are struggling with increased demand for smuggled cigarettes, as these provide major revenue for criminal groups and result in massive tax losses for national governments.
Ten inmates in a Paraguay prison were killed by PCC gang members, in a brutal assault that makes clear that the small country’s penitentiary system cannot…
A turf war among the founders of Familia do Norte, northern Brazil’s most powerful crime group, has left dozens of prisoners dead and will have major implications for criminal gang…
Victory in a decade-long turf war fought in the northeastern Brazilian state of Paraíba has allowed Okaida, a local gang named after the Islamic terror group Al-Qaeda, to finally broaden its…
A so-called voluntary work program in Rio de Janeiro prisons has highlighted long-term problems within Brazil’s crumbling penitentiary system, a breeding ground for some of the most powerful crime groups…
About InSight Crime
Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua Becomes Truly Transnational
This week, InSight Crime published a deep dive into the total control that Venezuelan mega-gang, Tren de Aragua, has over the lives of those it smuggles between Venezuela and Chile…
Turkish Traffickers Delivering Latin American Cocaine to Persian Gulf
Last week, InSight Crime published the second half of an investigation piecing together the emerging role of Turkish cocaine traffickers in supplying Russia and the Persian Gulf, which are among…
Turkey as a Lynchpin in European Cocaine Pipeline
InSight Crime is extending its investigation into the cocaine pipeline to Europe, and tracking the growing connections between Latin American drug traffickers and European criminal organizations. This led us to…
Memo Fantasma Coverage Gets Worldwide Attention
Guillermo Acevedo, the former Colombian drug lord and paramilitary commander better known as Memo Fantasma, may soon be allowed to leave prison. Since first revealing the identity of Memo Fantasma…
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…
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