The year was one of political tumult, fed in no small part by organized crime and its favored weapon: corruption.
Welcome to InSight Crime’s Criminal GameChangers 2019, where we highlight the biggest trends in organized crime in the Americas.
Bolivian authorities were taken by surprise on November 7, 2018, when they captured three Venezuelans during an operation to dismantle a "gota a gota" loan shark network, a criminal activity…
An operation on the border between Bolivia and Argentina revealed that criminal organizations were exchanging stolen cars for narcotics, exposing a new transaction method in the criminal business.
Violent tensions are flaring in Bolivia's capital between hostile factions of one of the country's coca growers’ unions, escalating a long-simmering conflict for control of legal coca production in the…
Officials within the agency entrusted with protecting Bolivia's forests falsified data and provided documents legitimizing the illegal harvesting of timber, a scheme that occurs throughout South America.
José González Valencia is a man of many names. Among his comrades in the Jalisco Cartel, one of the most powerful and violent drug cartels in Mexico, he is known…
Cocaine seizures along Paraguay’s border with Bolivia have tripled, bolstering fears that this forest hinterland has become a haven for drug smugglers.
A number of high-ranking police officials in Bolivia have been arrested for their suspected links to a drug trafficker wanted for years by police in Brazil.
Customs authorities in Bolivia have seized nearly two tons of contraband medicine to begin 2019, highlighting the scale of the illegal industry.
Bands of mineral thieves in Bolivia are sending recruiters to employ vulnerable workers to rob one of the state-owned ore mining companies.
Authorities in Bolivia have arrested one of Argentina’s most sought after drug traffickers dubbed the alleged “El Chapo Guzmán” of South America, in a case that underscores how rampant judicial…
About InSight Crime
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InSight Crime on El País Podcast
This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.
InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press
This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…
Escaping Barrio 18
Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…
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