Megabandas

All About Megabandas

ANALYSIS

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 COQUI / 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 DE LOS SOLES / 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. …

Venezuelan Megabanda Leader Reportedly Operating from Inside Colombia

COLOMBIA / 27 AUG 2019

The leader of a notorious Venezuelan gang is reportedly operating from Colombia, highlighting how criminal networks from the crisis-stricken state are expanding into neighboring countries.

Venezuela's Tren de Aragua Gang Muscling into Colombia Border Area

COLOMBIA / 10 JUL 2019

The arrest of members from a major Venezuelan gang, the Tren de Aragua, in the border state of Táchira reveals the expansion of this powerful group into what is already one…

Venezuela Disease Outbreaks Reveal Criminal Migration to Illegal Gold Mines

ILLEGAL MINING / 19 JUN 2019

Outbreaks of malaria and diphtheria in a region of Venezuela where these diseases are rare has revealed how armed groups are organizing a vast migration to illegal mines.

Venezuela Gang Muscles Into Trinidad and Tobago, Others May Follow

CARIBBEAN / 20 MAY 2019

A Venezuelan criminal gang has migrated to the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago -- sounding alarms about the expansion of organized crime elements to the islands amid Venezuela's collapse.

Op-Ed: Organized Crime Tightens its Grip on Venezuela

COLOMBIA / 17 MAY 2019

Juan Guaidó tried to bluff Nicólas Maduro at the Venezuelan political poker table, pretending he had the enough of the military in his hand to take the pot. He failed,…

General's Murder Hints at Complete Impunity for Venezuela Megabandas

MEGABANDAS / 14 MAY 2019

The recent murders of an air force general and five other security officials in Venezuela, believed to have been carried out by a mega-gang, confirms the…

Failed Venezuela Uprising Benefits Armed and Criminal Groups

CARTEL DE LOS SOLES / 8 MAY 2019

Venezuela's social conflict and violence may be even more complicated a week after the failed military uprising led by Juan Guaidó. This continued descent into state-sponsored anarchy has only favored…

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InSight Crime’s Greater Focus on US-Mexico Border

20 JUL 2021

InSight Crime has decided to turn many of its investigative resources towards understanding and chronicling the criminal dynamics along the US-Mexico border.

THE ORGANIZATION

Key Arrests and Police Budget Increases Due to InSight Crime Investigations

8 JUL 2021

With Memo Fantasma’s arrest, InSight Crime has proven that our investigations can and will uncover major criminal threats in the Americas.

THE ORGANIZATION

Organized Crime’s Influence on Gender-Based Violence

30 JUN 2021

InSight Crime investigator Laura N. Ávila spoke on organized crime and gender-based violence at the launch of a research project by the United Nations Development Programme.