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EPL

COLOMBIA GROUPS / 23 APR 2021

The dissidence of the EPL, which the Security Forces call Los Peludos, is the dissidence of the guerrilla group Popular Liberation Army they are considered an armed organized group exclusively…

Colombia Decides EPL is No Longer Major Threat

COLOMBIA / 19 APR 2021

Colombia has downgraded the threat level of one of the country's oldest criminal groups, which means fewer resources and troops will go toward fighting it.

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…

Colombia’s EPL Bitterly Divided Between Political, Drug Trafficking Factions

COLOMBIA / 22 MAY 2020

A top EPL guerrilla commander in Colombia was killed on order of its high command for treason -- an act likely to further inflame infighting among the group’s increasingly desperate…

Colombia Running Out of Incentives to Convince Armed Fighters to Surrender

COLOMBIA / 19 MAY 2020

The Colombian government's latest offer of legal benefits to individuals of armed groups who surrender and face justice was met with skepticism, especially since it came amid the coronavirus lockdown.

Drug Traffickers Used Venezuela’s Isla Margarita as Backdoor to Europe

COCAINE / 4 DEC 2019

A Venezuelan island in the Caribbean that is a popular tourist destination was used by a Colombian trafficker to move drugs to the United States and Europe, in another example…

Increase in Violence Leads to More Forced Displacements in Colombia

COLOMBIA / 23 OCT 2019

A recent report has shown the scale to which forced displacements due to violence are increasing in Colombia, primarily affecting vulnerable groups like Afro-Colombians and indigenous communities.

Colombia’s EPL Faces Bleak Prospects After Death of Pácora

COLOMBIA / 1 OCT 2019

The killing of the leader of the EPL’s political and military wings by the Colombian army comes at a critical time for the criminal group, as it finds itself bitterly…

ELN Gains Upper Hand Over EPL in Norte de Santander, Colombia

ELN / 24 SEP 2019

A recent split within the EPL guerrilla force has left it weakened and allowed its rival, the ELN, to gain an advantage in Norte de Santander, a Colombian department on…

Colombia’s Armed Groups Prey on Venezuela Migrants

COLOMBIA / 19 AUG 2019

A new report by Human Rights Watch on violence in the department of Norte de Santander, Colombia, shows how vulnerable Venezuelan migrants are to the criminal groups that dominate the…

EPL, Rastrojos Behind Rising Violence in Venezuela Border State of Táchira

COLOMBIA / 6 MAY 2019

A recent shootout at the main border crossing between Colombia and Venezuela and the killing of five people in another Venezuelan frontier town shows that clashes between criminal groups over…

EPL Muscles in on El Naya Drug Corridor in West Colombia

COLOMBIA / 22 JAN 2019

The killing of four people in Jamundí, Valle del Cauca, may have been the EPL’s way of announcing its entrance to one of Colombia’s strategic drug corridors: El Naya.

ELN and EPL Conflict Intensifies at Colombia-Venezuela Border

COLOMBIA / 2 AUG 2018

A recent massacre that left eight people dead near the Colombia-Venezuela border shows how much the conflict has intensified between two armed groups battling for control of the drug trade…

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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…

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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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