Ecuadorian gangs are taking another page from the playbook of crime groups in Mexico and Colombia, stepping up targeted killings of police officers in drug trafficking hotspots.
Ecuador has seen its sixth large-scale prison massacre since the start of 2021, with at least 44 prisoners being killed during a riot at a jail west of Quito.
A recent wave of murders in the Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas provides clues to the role of dissident factions of the now-defunct Colombian guerrilla group known as the FARC in…
The 2021 ranking of the world's most violent cities predictably features a heavy presence by Latin American and Caribbean population centers. The top eight are all in Mexico and the…
Rampant piracy along Ecuador’s coastal provinces is forcing hundreds of fishermen to leave their profession and the sea out of fear for their lives.
The assassination of a suspected Albanian drug trafficker in Ecuador is another reminder of the increasing presence of Balkan trafficking groups in the South American country.
The discovery of two bodies hanging from a bridge in Ecuador may be the starkest sign yet of the country’s accelerated spiral into violence, including copying the worst excesses seen…
Peru has convicted a gang of shark fin traffickers for the first time in history but more is needed to make a dent in this prolific illegal industry. …
In 2021, most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean experienced a marked increase in murders. Resurgent violence was to be expected after some of the world’s strictest COVID-19 lockdowns…
Ecuador's descent into violence followed a common path: more cocaine led to more cash and more weapons for the gangs. But it happened faster than anywhere else.
Once the purview of Mexican drug cartels, the production of pro-gang songs that soothe the egos of powerful criminal overlords are swiftly becoming a region-wide phenomenon.
A surge in US-bound migrants has been a boon to human smuggling rings in Ecuador – in a pattern that is playing out across much of the region.
About InSight Crime
InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board
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…
InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan
InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…
InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation
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…
Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper
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…
InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate
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…
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