What Lockdown? World’s Cocaine Traffickers Sniff at Movement Restrictions

As a wave of coronavirus infections hit Italy in late March, Rocco Molè, a member of the country’s ’Ndrangheta organized crime group, was faced with a dilemma.As a wave of…

Tensions Rise in Bolivia's Chapare as Government Escalates Anti-Drug Operations

Officials from Bolivia's interim government have stepped up drug trafficking operations over the last six months, but a focus on coca-producing communities in Cochabamba is creating tension with law enforcement…

Six Ways Coronavirus is Impacting Organized Crime in the Americas

Criminal groups across Latin America have been forced to dig deep by the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown. Moving drugs and contraband, shaking down extortion victims and getting migrants across…

Why is US Sending Navy Warships to Thwart Drug Smugglers?

Though described as a strategy to keep traffickers from exploiting the coronavirus pandemic, the US Navy’s recent deployment of warships to the Caribbean was a long time in the making…

Ucayali, Peru's Drug Trafficking Gateway to Bolivia and Brazil

The coronavirus pandemic has halted trafficking in Peru and sent cocaine prices plummeting, but drug seizures continue in the border department of Ucayali, a jungle region that has become a major smuggling corridor…

Port of Limón Has Become Costa Rica's Drug Trafficking Epicenter

At daybreak on January 1, 2020, five men were shot from a car with a machine gun mounted on it outside a church in Cieneguita, a small town located on…

How Has Coronavirus Shifted Argentina's Drug Dynamics?

To slow the spread of the coronavirus, Argentina -- a transhipment point and growing consumer market for illegal drugs -- has shut down its borders, instituted a mandatory quarantine, and…

Record Seizures of Cocaine Expose Severe Flaws at Uruguay's Main Airport

Over the past year, repeated allegations of weak security and customs checks at Uruguay's main international airport in Montevideo have showcased its important role in the trafficking of drugs to…

Colombia VP Marta Lucía Ramírez: 'Memo Fantasma is Not My Husband’s Associate'

In the investigation, "The Invisible Drug Lord: Hunting ‘The Ghost,’" InSight Crime reported that Colombia’s Vice President Marta Lucía Ramírez and her husband, Álvaro Rincón, were shareholders of Hitos Urbanos…

‘Pategrillo’ - The New Boon for Colombia's Cocaine Labs

Crude oil siphoned from Colombia's pipelines is increasingly being processed by clandestine refineries that manufacture a low-quality fuel, known as "pategrillo," used to make cocaine.

Venezuela President's Drug Trafficking Exploits Detailed in US Indictment

US prosecutors have charged Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his closest allies with drug trafficking and corruption, cementing the embattled nation's reputation as a mafia state.

The Women Who Want to Leave Coca Behind in Colombia's Putumayo

In Putumayo, as in much of Colombia, female coca growers face a difficult choice: obey armed groups and continue working in illegal economies, or put themselves at risk by seeking…