Arrest of Leader Shows Mexico's Rojos May Be Increasing Presence in Michoacán

Mexican authorities have arrested a leader of the initially Guerrero-based Los Rojos crime group in the neighboring state of Michoacán, raising questions about the group’s potential expansion into new territory…

How Mexico's Drug Trade Has Evolved Over a Century

Misconceptions surrounding Mexico's drug trade have long been replicated in popular culture and public discourses.

How Fentanyl, More than Heroin, Drives US Opioid Market

The deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl has displaced heroin as the leading driver of the ongoing opioid crisis in the United States and is contributing to a deadly scramble for market-control…

Mexico's Poppy Farmers in Increasingly Dire Straits

Facing increased economic hardship, poppy-growing communities in southwest Mexico want to join a state program offering alternative projects, but this would only be a first step that cannot tackle all…

US Chemicals Help Fuel Mexico Drug Production: Report

Authorities in Mexico said they will look into the mass-scale diversion of chemicals from US companies to produce drugs that are trafficked over the border to feed consumers in the…

Mexico Opium Network Shines Light on Marginalized Poppy-Growing Communities

The fall in heroin prices in the United States and the devastating economic effect this has had on poppy-growing communities in Mexico has been widely discussed and often attributed to…

Continued Street Drug Sales in Tijuana Puts Users at Risk of Coronavirus

A coronavirus outbreak in the Mexico border city of Tijuana has not stymied street-level heroin and methamphetamine sales, and its large population of drug users is at high risk of…

Fentanyl Enters Heroin Supply in Tijuana, Mexico

Drug users in Tijuana are being unwittingly exposed to the deadly opioid fentanyl in a corridor where the drug is frequently smuggled, but where the effects of the opioid crisis…

Small Farmers Hurting in Mexico’s Poppy Growing Heartland

Tension is brewing among small farmers in a notorious poppy-growing region in Mexico over delivery delays of a government subsidized fertilizer, in just the latest issue facing farmers amid a…

Argentina Dismantles Pill Ring That Sold Opioids To US Customers

Authorities in Argentina have dismantled an intricate organization illegally selling opioids and counterfeit medicines online to US customers, revealing a number of legal loopholes exploited by these criminal groups…

Illegal Clinics and Addicts Fuel 'H' Boom in Guayaquil, Ecuador

In the south Ecuador city of Guayaquil, organized crime has created a vicious circle of drug consumption: violent microtrafficking networks peddle drugs on the city streets creating the addicts that…

GameChangers 2018: As Opioids and Cocaine Boom, the Americas Wilt

While criminal organizations have widened their portfolios dramatically in recent years, drug trafficking remains their most important earner.