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INVESTIGATIONS

Colombia Teachers – Last Line of Defense Against Forced Recruitment

COLOMBIA / 15 APR 2021

Colombia remains a hotspot for forced recruitment of minors. In this, the last of a three-part investigation by InSight Crime, journalist Mathew Charles looks at how school teachers are trying…

In Colombia, Child Soldiers Play Many Roles

COLOMBIA / 8 APR 2021

Children serve in a wide range of roles in criminal organizations: errand boy, landmine builder, frontline combatant and assassin. In this, the second of a three-part investigation by InSight Crime…

Bajo Cauca and Vaupés – Colombia’s Child Recruitment Hotspots

COLOMBIA / 1 APR 2021

As in the darkest days of Colombia's civil conflict, armed groups across the country continue to enlist and exploit teenage boys and girls. In this, the first of a three-part…

Ex-FARC Expand into Northern Colombia

COLOMBIA / 16 MAR 2021

A leader of what was once Colombia's largest guerrilla organization has announced the revival of one of its most formidable blocs in northern Colombia -- a region with a competitive…

Massacres Spike in Antioquia as Colombia’s Urabeños Expand

COLOMBIA / 10 MAR 2021

The central Colombian department of Antioquia has been the scene of four massacres over the first two months of 2021, as the Urabeños trafficking group aims to expand both its…

Colombia Report Triples Number of Known False Positives Victims

COLOMBIA / 19 FEB 2021

A special tribunal has stated the number of victims connected to Colombia’s false positives scandal is almost three times higher than previously reported, dramatically expanding the scope of one of…

New Criminal Alliance Fending Off ELN at Colombia-Venezuela Border

COLOMBIA / 19 JAN 2021

A new alliance between two of Colombia's main criminal groups is seeking to contest the ELN's control of lucrative criminal economies along the border with Venezuela.

GameChangers 2020: 3 Ways Criminal Groups Overcame Coronavirus

BRAZIL MILITIAS / 29 DEC 2020

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…

GameChangers 2020: How Black Markets Became the New Normal

CONTRABAND / 23 DEC 2020

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…

The Endless War to Control Northwest Colombia’s Drug Routes

COCAINE / 10 DEC 2020

The killing of an Indigenous leader in Bahia Solano, on Colombia’s Pacific Coast, adds to mounting violence that has fueled the displacement of hundreds, as the Urabeños drug gang…

Los Pachenca Seek New Sanctuary for Drug Operations at Colombia’s Tip

COCAINE / 30 OCT 2020

A 14-ton seizure of cocaine has exposed a trafficking network linking Colombian trafficking group Los Pachecna to a small smuggling organization on the La Guajira peninsula, an arid, remote corner…

ELN Likely to Quickly Move Past Uriel’s Death in Colombia

COLOMBIA / 27 OCT 2020

The killing of ELN commander Uriel -- a well-known figure often seen in propaganda videos and press reports -- is a visible win for Colombia’s security forces, but it won’t…

Enemies to Allies – How Venezuela Decides Which Criminal Groups Thrive

ELITES AND CRIME / 19 OCT 2020

The Venezuelan government and security forces have spent the last few months building up a criminal known as Santanita and his gang as one of their major targets, while other…

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4 FEB 2021

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InSight Crime Events – Border Crime: The Northern Triangle and Tri-Border Area

ARGENTINA / 25 JAN 2021

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…

BRIEF

InSight Crime’s ‘Memo Fantasma’ Investigation Wins Simón Bolívar National Journalism Prize

COLOMBIA / 20 NOV 2020

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…

ANALYSIS

InSight Crime – From Uncovering Organized Crime to Finding What Works

COLOMBIA / 12 NOV 2020

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. …

ANALYSIS

InSight Crime – Ten Years of Investigating Organized Crime in the Americas

FEATURED / 2 NOV 2020

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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