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…
Colombia's island of Malpelo, home to a vast marine reserve, is suffering the consequences of staggering illegal fishing by domestic and foreign crews, with responses from authorities falling short of…
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…
Indigenous people at the Colombia-Ecuador border are reporting an increase in threats, extortions and restrictions to their access, as criminal groups and authorities fight to control the vacuum left by…
Organized crime structures are known to be moving entire arsenals from Peru into Ecuador and on to armed groups within Colombia. However, the full details about the origins of these…
In the south Ecuador city of Guayaquil, organized crime has created a vicious circle of drug consumption: violent microtrafficking networks peddle drugs on the city streets creating the addicts that…
Since beginning in Brazil with the “Operation Car Wash” (“Operação Lava Jato”) investigation in 2014, the Odebrecht corruption scandal has been headline news across Latin America. Presidents, lawmakers, and business…
The high-profile March 2018 kidnapping and murder of three media workers was a landmark moment for Ecuador, and put a new spotlight on the violence generated by Colombia’s ex-FARC mafia…
The largest gold deposit in Ecuador is in the hands of organized crime. At the end of 2017, while authorities in the northern province of Imbabura were working on the…
Although human trafficking continues to surge on the continent, improved legislation and the investment in social platforms are leading to higher human trafficking conviction rates in parts of Latin America.
Ecuadorean security forces are on high alert after receiving reports Colombia’s ELN guerrillas are planning a cross-border attack, highlighting what has until now been a major blind spot in Ecuador’s…
With a worsening crisis in Venezuela, dark days in Nicaragua, an ever more fragile peace process in Colombia, new governments and new ideas in Brazil, Mexico and beyond, 2018 was…
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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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