All About Brazil Militias

BRAZIL

Escritório do Crime

BRAZIL GROUPS / 15 FEB 2021

Escritório do Crime (Office of Crime) is one of the largest and most powerful militia groups in Brazil’s second-largest city, Rio de Janeiro.

Rio Militias and Their Complex Empire of Legal Businesses

BRAZIL / 8 JAN 2021

As part of a mounting campaign going after criminal finances, police in Rio de Janeiro have asked courts to seize control of legal businesses used by militia groups to launder…

GameChangers 2020: 3 Ways Criminal Groups Overcame Coronavirus

BRAZIL MILITIAS / 29 DEC 2020

As COVID-19 threatened the well-being of the populations they depend on for criminal income, it was largely in the interest of criminal groups to try and keep the pandemic under…

Why Have Political Assassinations More Than Doubled in Brazil?

BRAZIL / 24 NOV 2020

Political assassinations have marred successive Brazilian elections but the pace of these killings has more than doubled in 2020, with the power of militia groups blamed for much of the…

Militia Tentacles Extend to Rural Areas of Brazil

BRAZIL / 16 AUG 2019

New details about militias in Brazil’s rural areas reveal how these criminal groups have spread rapidly in strategic regions around the country.

Despite Recent Arrests, Rio’s Militias Are Here to Stay

BRAZIL / 12 JUL 2019

Police in Rio de Janeiro have targeted one of the city's oldest and largest militias, but the conditions that first gave rise to these groups decades ago and allowed them…

Militias Become Luxury Real Estate Barons in Rio de Janeiro

BRAZIL / 23 APR 2019

A series of revelations about how militias in Rio de Janeiro are laundering large quantities of money through illegal real estate shines a light on the impunity with which these…

Marielle Franco Arrests Raise Suspicions About Brazil Militia Ties to Bolsonaro Family

BRAZIL / 19 MAR 2019

Two former police officers with links to a militia group have been arrested in the high-profile killing of a Brazilian human rights activist. The same militia may also have ties…

Marielle Franco Insights Show Grim Banality of Brazil Violence

BRAZIL / 18 DEC 2018

New information about the murder of a Rio de Janeiro city councilor may finally bring her killers to justice, but this provides little cause for long-term optimism.

Brazil Police, Politician Tied to High-Profile Rio Activist’s Murder

BRAZIL / 10 MAY 2018

New witness testimony suggests the high-profile assassination of a city councilwoman and her driver in Brazil was a coordinated plot among military police, militia members and a city councilman, underscoring…

Spate of Murders in Brazil Shines Spotlight on Militia Phenomenon

BRAZIL / 18 APR 2018

A recent string of militia-linked murders in Brazil is sparking increased public discussion about the widespread presence and power of these criminal groups, which in spite of their long history…

Criminal Violence Overshadows Brazil Municipal Elections

BRAZIL / 3 OCT 2016

A wave of violence linked to criminal organizations has overshadowed Brazil's October 2 municipal elections, highlighting the extent of the political power attained by crime groups in South America's most…

Political Killings in Rio Raise Fears of Crime Infested Elections

BRAZIL / 12 SEP 2016

The head of Brazil's federal election commission has warned that criminal groups are attempting to influence local politics in the country's second largest city through a combination of financial coercion…

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InSight Crime Events – Border Crime: The Northern Triangle and Tri-Border Area

ARGENTINA / 25 JAN 2021

Through several rounds of extensive field investigations, our researchers have analyzed and mapped out the main illicit economies and criminal groups present in 39 border departments spread across the six countries of study – the Northern Triangle trio of Guatemala, Honduras, and El…

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InSight Crime’s ‘Memo Fantasma’ Investigation Wins Simón Bolívar National Journalism Prize

COLOMBIA / 20 NOV 2020

The staff at InSight Crime was awarded the prestigious Simón Bolívar national journalism prize in Colombia for its two-year investigation into the drug trafficker known as “Memo Fantasma,” which was…

ANALYSIS

InSight Crime – From Uncovering Organized Crime to Finding What Works

COLOMBIA / 12 NOV 2020

This project began 10 years ago as an effort to address a problem: the lack of daily coverage, investigative stories and analysis of organized crime in the Americas. …

ANALYSIS

InSight Crime – Ten Years of Investigating Organized Crime in the Americas

FEATURED / 2 NOV 2020

In early 2009, Steven Dudley was in Medellín, Colombia. His assignment: speak to a jailed paramilitary leader in the Itagui prison, just south of the city. Following his interview inside…

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