The Cuban government has sent squads of military and police to end a spike in the selling of goods on the black market amid the pandemic, but the response seems…
Food trucked into Venezuela from Brazil under a law allowing it to be transported for humanitarian needs is being diverted to Venezuela's black market.
As Venezuelan citizens try to return home during the coronavirus pandemic, their own government has accused them of spreading the virus while illegal groups along the Colombian border see them…
The sophisticated theft of a cigarette shipment has put Chile’s worsening contraband cigarette crisis on display, which has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Last year, the arrest of top customs officials in Paraguay revealed a sprawling corruption network that allowed smugglers to operate with near-complete impunity. As their trial is now set to…
Smugglers in Brazil wasted no time in moving an anti-malarial drug touted by President Jair Bolsonaro as a potential treatment for the coronavirus, smuggling more than 3,000 doses into the…
While Chile has one of the lowest homicide rates in Latin America and has managed to avoid major criminal groups developing there, a new survey has shown that Chileans see…
Despite having the world's largest oil reserves, years of mismanagement and theft have led Venezuela to a bizarre turn of events. Gasoline is so scarce in the country that, in…
Amid a shortage of cigarettes in Argentina after factory closings due to the coronavirus pandemic, the black market cigarette trade has surged -- an illegal economy with relatively low risk…
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…
The theft of thousands of surgical masks in Cuba reveals how the island’s active black market has adapted quickly to the coronavirus pandemic.
The seizures of several illegal shipments of medicine in Colombia's northern department of La Guajira has shown that one of the country's least-discussed criminal economies could rapidly expand during the…
About InSight Crime
Environmental and Academic Praise
InSight Crime’s six-part series on the plunder of the Peruvian Amazon continues to inform the debate on environmental security in the region. Our Environmental Crimes Project Manager, María Fernanda Ramírez,…
Series on Plunder of Peru’s Amazon Makes Headlines
Since launching on June 2, InSight Crime’s six-part series on environmental crime in Peru’s Amazon has been well-received. Detailing the shocking impunity enjoyed by those plundering the rainforest, the investigation…
Duarte’s Death Makes Waves
The announcement of the death of Gentil Duarte, one of the top dissident commanders of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), continues to reverberate in Venezuela and Colombia.
Cattle Trafficking Acclaim, Investigation into Peru’s Amazon
On May 18, InSight Crime launched its most recent investigation into cattle trafficking between Central America and Mexico. It showed precisely how beef, illicitly produced in Honduras, Guatemala…
Coverage of Fallen Paraguay Prosecutor Makes Headlines
The murder of leading anti-crime prosecutor, Marcelo Pecci, while on honeymoon in Colombia, has drawn attention to the evolution of organized crime in Paraguay. While 17 people have been arrested…
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