A new report suggests that two organized crime groups in Mexico initially funded their criminal enterprises through extorting and kidnapping avocado farmers, shedding new light on how these now-powerful…
A new report says that thousands of corner stores have closed in Honduras' capital in the past two years due to extortion and pushing residents to flee, a stark…
A new report claims that a Colombian loan shark network is operating in more than three quarters of Mexico's states, a further indication that these lucrative schemes are expanding their…
In our July 13 Facebook Live, Executive Director Jeremy McDermott spoke to InSight Crime investigator James Bargent about what are known as "bandas criminales" or BACRIM -- Colombia's "franchise" mafias…
A case against the MS13 operating in El Salvador's capital city shows how the gang's money laundering side is getting more sophisticated, even as it remains reliant on violence for…
Mexico's largest convenience store chain says it has been forced to close a number of stores amid growing insecurity and violence, a reflection of the economic impacts of the…
The latest revelations about land trafficking in Peru show how unchecked urban sprawl can foster criminal enterprises that operate with official complicity. …
The Barrio 18 gang in El Salvador allegedly engaged in large-scale extortion of a community water management project, underscoring flaws in the government's claims that security is improving across the…
Extortion mafias in north Peru have regrouped and restructured after operations to dismantle them late last year, illustrating a pattern of recycled criminality that carries the risk of increased violence…
Criminal groups are coercing butchers at a food market in western Mexico to buy meat from them at elevated prices and are killing those who do not comply, a new…
Authorities in Trinidad and Tobago say gangs are behind the rampant extortion of contractors carrying out public works projects, highlighting the many ways criminal groups can exploit this source of…
Authorities in Peru have dismantled a criminal group that brought together distinct elements seen in many of Latin America's organized crime structures: private security firms, prisons, and the alleged involvement…
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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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