Repeated attacks on teams recovering stolen lands in Colombia highlight the risks involved in restitution, a little-known process that is nevertheless critical to the country's peace agreement.
The Colombian government has, rather optimistically, announced the demise of one of the country's more aggressive criminal groups, in a region that has seen the constant recycling of criminal actors…
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…
While Latin America is home to the trafficking of all manner of species, several foundations are working to save arguably its slowest-moving victims: the sloths.
A Turkish mafia boss has claimed cocaine is being trafficked directly from Venezuela to Turkey in a viral video, pointing to the use of a route relying on the support…
Of the nearly 140 reporters killed in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil and Honduras during the past decade, about half covered organized crime.
The killing of a notorious Colombian dissident guerrilla leader on Venezuelan soil has the potential to destabilize underworld dynamics in both countries, fueling an already raging conflict along their shared…
When hundreds of skinned donkeys appeared on Colombia’s northern coast without explanation, locals -- and later authorities -- started asking questions. The answer, as it was many of these wildlife…
The extradition of a prominent Bolivian drug trafficker to Brazil has shed rare light on how family clans in the Andean nation serve as important cocaine suppliers to powerful organized…
Smuggling networks are feeding illegal mining operations across the Amazon Basin with mercury, despite global efforts to clamp down on the use of the substance.
Colombia’s current political crisis has led to severe clashes between police and protesters in many of the country’s largest cities. But the actions carried out by security forces could have…
A central Texas lawyer known as the “DWI Dude” will spend more than 15 years in federal prison after deceiving Colombian drug traffickers with promises of getting their cases dismissed…
About InSight Crime
Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua Becomes Truly Transnational
This week, InSight Crime published a deep dive into the total control that Venezuelan mega-gang, Tren de Aragua, has over the lives of those it smuggles between Venezuela and Chile…
Turkish Traffickers Delivering Latin American Cocaine to Persian Gulf
Last week, InSight Crime published the second half of an investigation piecing together the emerging role of Turkish cocaine traffickers in supplying Russia and the Persian Gulf, which are among…
Turkey as a Lynchpin in European Cocaine Pipeline
InSight Crime is extending its investigation into the cocaine pipeline to Europe, and tracking the growing connections between Latin American drug traffickers and European criminal organizations. This led us to…
Memo Fantasma Coverage Gets Worldwide Attention
Guillermo Acevedo, the former Colombian drug lord and paramilitary commander better known as Memo Fantasma, may soon be allowed to leave prison. Since first revealing the identity of Memo Fantasma…
Who Are Memo Fantasma and Sergio Roberto de Carvalho?
Inside the criminal career of Memo Fantasma In March 2020, InSight Crime revealed the identity and whereabouts of Memo Fantasma, a paramilitary commander and drug trafficker living in…
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