The Gaitanistas, also known as the Gulf Clan, Urabeños, and Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia – AGC), emerged from the ashes of Colombia’s paramilitary movement to become the dominant criminal force in Colombia.
Dairo Antonio Úsuga, alias “Otoniel,” was the most-wanted man in Colombia. His arrest was seen as so significant that a $5 million reward was on offer.
The Urabeños, one of Colombia's dominant drug groups, are seemingly ramping up operations along the Colombia-Venezuela border – a gambit likely to foment more violence in an already dangerous region.
The death of a top guerrilla commander in southern Colombia has unveiled an all-too-familiar situation: the leaders of criminal groups may be replaced, but this rarely leads to any meaningful…
Colombia's northern city of Santa Marta has seen a shocking rise in murders this year as smaller gangs are getting recruited into a larger drug feud.
A cell within a notorious Montenegrin cocaine trafficking group has been dismantled on Spain’s Canary Islands, demonstrating how Balkan drug smugglers may be utilizing their Latin American connections to re-position…
While the amount of coca crops in Colombia has dipped for the third year, the country's cocaine production continues to reach record highs, according to new figures from the United…
The pandemic has done nothing to reduce clashes between criminal actors in Colombia, with a rise in violence in early 2021 causing the number of people fleeing their homes to…
A criminal group in Colombia is turning dirty money into adulterated gold, in the latest addition to a long list of laundering schemes using the precious metal.
The Colombian government has, rather optimistically, announced the demise of one of the country's more aggressive criminal groups, in a region that has seen the constant recycling of criminal actors…
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…
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…
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…
Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…
For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…
We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.
InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…
This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…
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