All About Ecuador

NEWS

Are Ecuador’s Army, Police, and Prisons Beyond Reform?

ECUADOR / 5 SEP 2023

The state of Ecuador’s security institutions and their inability to halt runaway criminal violence has been a central theme of the country’s ongoing presidential campaign. But facing underfunding and corruption,…

COCAINE / 28 AUG 2023

We take a rough look at how much cocaine goes through Ecuador, how this amount has grown, and how it has coincided with rising homicides. …

ECUADOR / 21 AUG 2023

In the second round of Ecuador's presidential race, both candidates favor using social measures to address the country's security crisis.

ECUADOR / 18 AUG 2023

InSight Crime spoke with Brotherton to learn more about the history of gang legalization in Ecuador and examine its impact on the current security situation.

CHONEROS / 10 AUG 2023

The murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio is the result of an unprecedented wave of violence by criminal groups in Ecuador.  …

BRAZIL / 26 JUL 2023

On paper, Latin American governments are fighting back against the shark fin trade. In reality, the massacre continues.

CHONEROS / 20 JUL 2023

The Choneros were once Ecuador's premier drug trafficking gang. InSight Crime documents their steady rise and their rapid fall.

BRAZIL / 15 JUN 2023

From Colima to Caracas, some parts of Latin America have stubbornly high homicide rates, far higher than the rest of their country.

COCAINE / 8 JUN 2023

Historic cocaine seizures in Sweden highlight the Nordic country's increasing role as a gateway for cocaine from Latin America to Europe.

COLOMBIA / 10 MAY 2023

Roldán was found shot dead on May 6 near the town of Fredonia in the Colombian department of Antioquia, Ecuador’s Interior Minister Juan Zapata confirmed on May 8. While the…

COCAINE EUROPE / 20 APR 2023

Clan Farruku, an Albanian crime group, was recently dismantled in Ecuador after receiving over ten tons of cocaine from Latin America.

CHONEROS / 14 APR 2023

The Tiguerones gang is thought to be behind the massacre in Esmeraldas, as they battle for control of international drug trafficking routes.

COCAINE / 13 APR 2023

Authorities in Russia made a large-scale seizure of cocaine in Moscow, following another in St. Petersburg last month.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…