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Invisible Drug Kingpin 'Don Lucho' Assassinated in Colombia

AUC / 16 JUL 2021

One of Colombia's foremost drug traffickers and money launderers has been assassinated in Bogotá, leaving important unanswered questions about his own criminal past and who might have been after him.

Memo Fantasma, Colombia’s Underworld Ghost, is Captured in Bogotá

AUC / 25 JUN 2021

Guillermo León Acevedo Giraldo, alias “Memo Fantasma,” a former paramilitary leader and longtime drug trafficker who escaped prosecution for decades by living behind a façade of legitimate business dealings, was…

Demobilized But Not Disarmed, Colombia Paramilitaries Continue Extorting

AUC / 31 MAY 2021

Several demobilized members of a notorious right-wing paramilitary group in Colombia passed themselves off as a new self-defense force and extorted locals, highlighting how these armed actors continue to terrorize…

Los Pachenca Emerge After Return of Paramilitary Boss to Colombia

AUC / 18 MAR 2021

In the wake of former paramilitary leader Hernán Giraldo's deportation to Colombia, an armed group linked to him has reappeared in a coastal region he once controlled, raising fears of…

The Italian Mafia and the Move Upstream

AUC / 9 FEB 2021

Operation ‘Tiburón Galloway’ began as a local investigation by prosecutors in the Italian region of Calabria in 2001, but quickly snowballed into a multinational, multiagency investigation.

The Ghost Lives the High Life in Madrid

AUC / 29 MAR 2020

The Ghost, a paramilitary drug lord, has moved to Madrid with his millions of drug dollars. He has dodged the Colombian justice system and perhaps secured a pass from the…

Tracking the Ghost: Follow the Money

AUC / 29 MAR 2020

“The Ghost” had fled Medellín, tied off loose ends in the underworld and perhaps suspended his drug trafficking activities. He disappeared with millions of dollars. That kind of money is…

The Ghost Loses Drug Trafficking Partners

AUC / 29 MAR 2020

After the demobilization of the AUC in 2006, the paramilitary high command was behind bars. All except alias “Sebastían Colmenares” and his alter ego, “Memo Fantasma,” who was still moving…

The Ghost and His Paramilitary Army

AUC / 29 MAR 2020

In 1997, the paramilitary army began its bloody campaign across Colombia, supposedly to fight the Marxist rebels, but really to take control of the cocaine trade. “Will the Ghost” or…

Hunting the Ghost: a Face and a Name

AUC / 29 MAR 2020

The hunt for “Will the Ghost,” or “Memo Fantasma” had stalled once again. The name Guillermo Camacho did not register with anyone. Had The Ghost managed to wipe all traces…

'The Invisibles' of the Drug World

AUC / 29 MAR 2020

Drug traffickers today have realized that their best protection is not a private army, but rather total anonymity. We call these drug lords "the invisibles." This is the story of…

A Former Warlord is Back in Colombia, Will His Drug Trafficking Empire Follow?

AUC / 26 JUL 2019

Authorities in Colombia have arrested an infamous former paramilitary warlord after he returned to the Andean nation upon finishing his US prison sentence for drug charges, raising concerns about his possible…

Caparros

AUC / JUNE 2, 2021

Los Caparrapos, also known as the Virgilio Peralta Arenas Front, is a criminal group linked to drug trafficking, with a strong presence in Colombia’s Antioquia and Córdoba departments. Previously allied…

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THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Greater Focus on US-Mexico Border

20 JUL 2021

InSight Crime has decided to turn many of its investigative resources towards understanding and chronicling the criminal dynamics along the US-Mexico border.

THE ORGANIZATION

Key Arrests and Police Budget Increases Due to InSight Crime Investigations

8 JUL 2021

With Memo Fantasma’s arrest, InSight Crime has proven that our investigations can and will uncover major criminal threats in the Americas.

THE ORGANIZATION

Organized Crime’s Influence on Gender-Based Violence

30 JUN 2021

InSight Crime investigator Laura N. Ávila spoke on organized crime and gender-based violence at the launch of a research project by the United Nations Development Programme.