All About Megabandas

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How Venezuelan Gangs Masquerade as Community Organizers to Secure Territory

ELITES AND CRIME / 11 APR 2022

Elements of the Venezuelan underworld, whether drug cartels, street gangs or illegal mining groups, have hit upon a unique way of establishing social control:…

Honor Among Thieves - The Venezuela Manhunt for an Altruistic Mob Boss

EL KOKI / 14 MAR 2022

In December 2021, residents of Tejerías, a small city in the northern state of Aragua, Venezuela, started to notice strange events: wild parties in public plazas organized by a local…

Is This the End for Venezuela’s Megagangs?

EL KOKI / 3 MAR 2022

Security forces in Venezuela have killed a string of infamous gang bosses, indicating that the gangs are no longer operating with impunity as they have for years, though some have…

Murders Soar as Venezuela Police Hunt for Wilexis Yet Again

MEGABANDAS / 9 FEB 2022

A powerful Caracas gang has imposed a curfew after police raids left a dozen people dead – another example of how attempts to root out the gang have led to…

Why did Venezuela's Peace Zones Backfire So Badly?

EL KOKI / 25 JAN 2022

Venezuela’s Peace Zones were arguably some of the strongest evidence showcasing the odd, fluctuating relationship between organized crime and the government.

Are El Koki and His Gang Members No Longer Safe in Venezuela?

EL KOKI / 6 AUG 2021

Police in Venezuela have killed a notorious gang leader while others are reportedly hiding in Colombia, raising questions about the state of one of Caracas’ most powerful criminal structures and…

El Koki’s Ambition Fuels Urban Warfare in Caracas

EL KOKI / 22 FEB 2021

Recent shootouts between security forces and Venezuela's El Coqui gang included a clash in which at least two dozen people were gunned down, and experts warn of continued violence as…

GameChangers 2020: Tren de Aragua and the Exportation of Venezuelan Organized Crime

COCAINE / 30 DEC 2020

Venezuela has long been known as a strategic rearguard for Colombia guerrilla groups. Yet 2020 saw the acceleration of a newer dynamic: Venezuelan gangs now rival their Colombian counterparts in…

Venezuela's Gangs Push Deeper Into Colombia

COLOMBIA / 14 JUL 2020

Authorities in Colombia have captured several Venezuelan gang members, alarming officials who say that the groups are playing out rivalries from their home country while worming their way into local…

The Hunt for 'Wilexis' - Manufactured Mayhem in Petare, Venezuela

EL KOKI / 29 MAY 2020

A complex game of cat-and-mouse has unfolded over the last two weeks in one of Caracas’s most infamous neighborhoods, revealing how the Maduro regime tries to manipulate gang rivalries to…

GameChangers 2019: As Venezuela Sinks, Maduro’s Criminal Ties Keep Him Afloat

CARTEL OF THE SUNS / 18 JAN 2020

Venezuela remained mired in crisis throughout 2019, yet Nicolás Maduro actually consolidated his regime. How did he do it?…

Venezuela Reports Show FAES Police Unit Targeting Key Megabandas

COLECTIVOS / 2 JAN 2020

A slew of media reports from Venezuela appear to show an elite police unit, blamed for numerous extrajudicial executions, going after two of the country's powerful criminal organizations in recent…

Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua Gang Seeks to Grow Inside Brazil Prisons

BRAZIL / 26 SEP 2019

Members of Venezuela's large and dangerous Tren del Aragua gang are actively trying to expand their group's influence in the Brazilian prisons where they are incarcerated. …

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Venezuela's Cocaine Revolution Met With Uproar

6 MAY 2022

On May 4, InSight Crime launched its latest investigation, Venezuela’s Cocaine Revolution¸ accompanied by a virtual panel on its findings. The takeaways from this three-year effort, including the fact that Venezuela…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Drug Trafficking Investigation and InDepth Gender Coverage

29 APR 2022

On May 4, InSight Crime will be publishing The Cocaine Revolution in Venezuela, a groundbreaking investigation into how the Venezuelan government regulates the cocaine trade in the country. An accompanying event,…

THE ORGANIZATION

InDepth Coverage of Juan Orlando Hernández

22 APR 2022

Ever since Juan Orlando Hernández was elected president of Honduras in 2014, InSight Crime has provided coverage of every twist and turn during his rollercoaster time in office, amid growing…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Cocaine Revolution

15 APR 2022

On May 4th, InSight Crime will publish a groundbreaking investigation on drug trafficking in Venezuela. A product of three years of field research across the country, the study uncovers cocaine production in…

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Widespread Coverage of InSight Crime MS13 Investigation

8 APR 2022

In a joint investigation with La Prensa Gráfica, InSight Crime recently revealed that four of the MS13’s foremost leaders had been quietly released from…

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