The persistent robbery, extortion, assault and even murder of shrimp farm workers by armed gangs in Ecuador has led the shrimp sector to once more demand gun reforms, in a…
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…
A spate of recent operations targeting wildlife trafficking rings in Brazil have highlighted the extent to which such groups have been increasingly relying on social media platforms to facilitate their…
Officials in Argentina have been discussing how DNA testing may be used to curb cattle rustling and rural crime in Santa Fe, indicating ministers will seek to apply fresh methods…
A number of Latin America’s leading academics, investigative journalists and security experts gathered virtually December 3 to discuss the most pressing developments in transnational organized crime across the region in…
The discovery of 17 shark carcasses discarded in a landfill in Chile indicates that illegal fishing practices may be on the rise as criminal actors continue to prey on marine…
Fisherman are denouncing increased piracy around Lake Valencia in northern Venezuela, which is weakening one of the last productive industries in the area.
The discovery of a fossil trafficking network in Brazil’s northeastern state of Ceará has shone a spotlight on a little-noticed but thriving, decades-old illegal trade.
A new report suggests the Chinese fishing fleet that mass trawled just off Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands in recent months crossed the maritime boundary to fish illegally in Ecuadorian waters, sparking…
The forest fires that have blazed across Paraguay in recent weeks seem to have been, in part, started by criminal groups seeking to clear space for more marijuana plantations.
An experiment to track poached turtle eggs through the use of synthetic eggs equipped with GPS trackers in Costa Rica has offered a seductive new approach to fighting wildlife trafficking,…
Zimba the jaguar should not have been there. The biologist recognized it as the same jaguar she had ordered to be confiscated a year earlier during her first inspection in…
About InSight Crime
Who Are Memo Fantasma and Sergio Roberto de Carvalho?
Inside the criminal career of Memo Fantasma In March 2020, InSight Crime revealed the identity and whereabouts of Memo Fantasma, a paramilitary commander and drug trafficker living in…
Environmental and Academic Praise
InSight Crime’s six-part series on the plunder of the Peruvian Amazon continues to inform the debate on environmental security in the region. Our Environmental Crimes Project Manager, María Fernanda Ramírez,…
Series on Plunder of Peru’s Amazon Makes Headlines
Since launching on June 2, InSight Crime’s six-part series on environmental crime in Peru’s Amazon has been well-received. Detailing the shocking impunity enjoyed by those plundering the rainforest, the investigation…
Duarte’s Death Makes Waves
The announcement of the death of Gentil Duarte, one of the top dissident commanders of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), continues to reverberate in Venezuela and Colombia.
Cattle Trafficking Acclaim, Investigation into Peru’s Amazon
On May 18, InSight Crime launched its most recent investigation into cattle trafficking between Central America and Mexico. It showed precisely how beef, illicitly produced in Honduras, Guatemala…
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