Lake Titicaca: A Smuggler's Paradise in Bolivia and Peru

Lake Titicaca serves as a crossroads for varied criminal economies, from cocaine shipments to trafficking the frogs that live along its banks.

What Lies Behind Bolivia's Expanding Cocaine Trade?

Bolivia's cocaine trade is on the up. Originally a coca leaf cultivator, Bolivia has moved to cocaine production.

Colombia Sees Historic Levels of Coca Cultivation and Cocaine Production

Colombian coca cultivation and potential cocaine production has hit a record high. How will this impact the government's drugs policy?…

How Peru's Coca Production is Helping the Global Cocaine Boom

Increased coca cultivation in Peru provides the raw ingredient cocaine traffickers use when pushing into developing markets like Australia.

Price Differences Keep Peru's Coca Flowing Illegally Into Bolivia

Peru coca prices are low. And that's leading to potential cocaine production in Bolivia.

From Empires to World Wars - A History of the Global Cocaine Trade

InSight Crime charts the history of cocaine from agricultural extract to the basis of global criminal empires.

Why Ambulances Remain Convenient Way to Move Drugs in Colombia

Narco ambulances in Colombia aren't new, but a recent rash of discoveries suggests that they are back in vogue with drug trafficking gangs.

Colombia's Truth Commission Signposts Road to Peace for President-Elect to Follow

The historic publication of the Final Report from Colombia’s Truth Commission has crystallized the core issues that president-elect Gustavo Petro must overcome if he is to achieve the peace that…

Drug Traffickers in Fresh Round of Violence Against Peru's Indigenous Communities

Following multiple killings, Indigenous leaders in the Peruvian Amazon are again facing threats of violence after coca eradication operations in their area, in a stark warning of the risks faced…

Could Gustavo Petro Legalize Coca and Cocaine in Colombia?

A controversial bill proposing the legalization of the coca leaf and coca derivatives, including cocaine, has gained traction in Colombia.

Felled and Burned: Deforestation in Peru's Amazon

Rich in resources, Peru's Amazon is being plundered at an accelerated rate, losing more than 26,000 square kilometers of forest since 2001.

Money Grows on Trees: Environmental Crime in Peru's Amazon

Peru’s Amazon, which covers nearly half of the Andean country, is rich in biodiversity and critical to the capture of carbon, which mitigates global warming. Political instability and corruption, however,…