Corruption and Graft Afflict Latin America's Pandemic Response

As Latin America emerges as the new global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, corruption has proliferated, with politicians and middlemen quick to line their pockets.

Brazil Smuggles In Hydroxychloroquine Amid Coronavirus Despair

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…

Chile Sees Drug Trafficking as Most Severe National Security Threat: Survey

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…

Continued Street Drug Sales in Tijuana Puts Users at Risk of Coronavirus

A coronavirus outbreak in the Mexico border city of Tijuana has not stymied street-level heroin and methamphetamine sales, and its large population of drug users is at high risk of…

Venezuela Relies on Gold as Other Criminal Economies Dry Up

In the wake of Venezuela’s hyperinflation and economic collapse, the country has come to rely on dwindling oil exports, remittances, and the smuggling of fuel, drugs and gold to prop…

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…

Corruption Hikes Price of Body Bags in Coronavirus-Hit Ecuador

While stark images of bodies in makeshift coffins left outside houses revealed how severely Ecuador's healthcare system had collapsed during the coronavirus pandemic, some found opportunity to turn a morbid…

Colombia's Coca Eradicators Spared From Coronavirus Lockdown

While it has imposed a stringent coronavirus lockdown, the Colombian government has come under fire for allowing coca eradication campaigns to continue largely unabated. Colombia’s President Iván Duque…

International Money Laundering Schemes Latest to Fall Victim to Coronavirus

Dirty cash from the illicit drug trade is piling up in major US cities as the novel coronavirus hobbles yet another fundamental component of the operations of Latin America’s criminal…

Coronavirus May Be Providing Cover for Police Abuses in El Salvador

Police in El Salvador have come under fire after the body of an alleged gang member was found beaten and handcuffed despite family being told he died of coronavirus, underscoring…

Venezuela Prison Implodes Under Additional Strain From Coronavirus

In mid-March, alarms were being raised about how vulnerable Venezuelan prisoners were to the spread of the coronavirus and the draconian measures implemented to prevent its spread.

How to Measure Coronavirus' Criminal Impact in the Americas? Wait.

The coronavirus has upended crime. But measuring it has not been easy. And predicting its impact going forward may be even more difficult.