A group that used homeless people to smuggle cell phones and drugs into Costa Rican prisons is under investigation, the second time such a ring has been exposed in two…
An operation on the border between Bolivia and Argentina revealed that criminal organizations were exchanging stolen cars for narcotics, exposing a new transaction method in the criminal business.
A series of raids have highlighted how widespread corruption among Paraguayan officials has allowed smugglers to operate with impunity along the Brazilian border, focusing on the Lake Itaipu and Paraná River…
Argentina, Chile and Brazil are struggling with increased demand for smuggled cigarettes, as these provide major revenue for criminal groups and result in massive tax losses for national governments.
The reopening of a major Colombia-Venezuela border crossing is an important step to stop Venezuelans from trekking across remote trails where they are easily extorted by armed groups. But it's…
US tobacco giant Philip Morris has shut down its two factories in Colombia partly because of illegal cigarette sales, highlighting a spike in contraband cigarettes.
Pro-government guerrillas in Venezuela have begun training civilians in armed combat, showing the symbiotic relationship between embattled President Nicolás…
The hijacking of 11 vehicles loaded with contraband by ex-FARC Mafia along the border with Ecuador has revealed a new form of criminal financing for the former guerrilla fighters and…
A recent shootout at the main border crossing between Colombia and Venezuela and the killing of five people in another Venezuelan frontier town shows that clashes between criminal groups over…
Venezuela's largest garbage dump has become a lawless territory where waste has become the raw material for a lucrative and growing criminal industry.
Customs authorities in Bolivia have seized nearly two tons of contraband medicine to begin 2019, highlighting the scale of the illegal industry.
Ecuador launched an operation to try and halt the flow of narco flights, planes carrying drug shipments, in early April, showcasing how such flights have become pivotal to drug trafficking…
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InSight Crime Events – Border Crime: The Northern Triangle and Tri-Border Area
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…
InSight Crime’s ‘Memo Fantasma’ Investigation Wins Simón Bolívar National Journalism Prize
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…
InSight Crime – From Uncovering Organized Crime to Finding What Works
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. …
InSight Crime – Ten Years of Investigating Organized Crime in the Americas
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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