Venezuela has long been known as a strategic rearguard for Colombia guerrilla groups. Yet 2020 saw the acceleration of a newer dynamic: Venezuelan gangs now rival their Colombian counterparts in…
As COVID-19 threatened the well-being of the populations they depend on for criminal income, it was largely in the interest of criminal groups to try and keep the pandemic under…
In a region where 50 percent of the population already makes its living in the informal market, it was perhaps of little surprise that black markets exploded in 2020 amidst…
Welcome to InSight Crime’s Criminal GameChangers 2020, where we highlight the most important trends in organized crime in the Americas over the course of the year. …
Several inmates at a Venezuela prison scaled a wall to escape to a part of the complex where prison bosses wield greater control, in an attempt their family members say…
A spate of recent operations targeting wildlife trafficking rings in Brazil have highlighted the extent to which such groups have been increasingly relying on social media platforms to facilitate their…
Hotels seized from accused Salvadoran drug kingpin Chepe Diablo were awarded lucrative government contracts to serve as quarantine centers, according to an audit of pandemic spending by El Salvador's Court of…
A number of Latin America’s leading academics, investigative journalists and security experts gathered virtually December 3 to discuss the most pressing developments in transnational organized crime across the region in…
Authorities in Bolivia this month have seized several large contraband shipments, as the country's economic struggles with the COVID-19 pandemic continue to increase demand for black market goods.
A flu vaccine in Mexico has become the latest drug to emerge on Latin America’s burgeoning black market medicine trade, highlighting how criminal groups are increasingly providing items believed to…
El Salvador authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the government’s coronavirus pandemic spending, marking the severest legal action to date taken against the administration of President Nayib Bukele.
A sizeable seizure of adulterated rum shipped to Honduras from Europe reveals the extent to which black markets for alcohol in Latin America have expanded in response to limits on…
About InSight Crime
Escaping Barrio 18
Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…
Europe Coverage Makes a Splash
Last week, InSight Crime published an analysis of the role of Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport as an arrival hub for cocaine and methamphetamine from Mexico. The article was picked up by…
World Looks to InSight Crime for Mexico Expertise
Our coverage of the arrest of Chapitos’ co-founder Ovidio Guzmán López in Mexico has received worldwide attention.In the UK, outlets including The Independent and BBC…
InSight Crime Shares Expertise with US State Department
Last week, InSight Crime Co-founder Steven Dudley took part in the International Anti-Corruption Conference organized by the US State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, & Labor and…
Immediate Response to US-Mexico Marijuana Investigation
InSight Crime’s investigation into how the legalization of marijuana in many US states has changed Mexico’s criminal dynamics made a splash this week appearing on the front page of…
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