All About Microtrafficking

NEWS

Bogotá's Microtrafficking Gangs Fuel Killings and Torture in Post-Pandemic Boom

COLOMBIA / 23 MAY 2022

A reconfiguration of the groups that control micro-trafficking in Colombia’s capital city is responsible for the series of macabre homicides reported in Bogotá over the last six weeks.

Uruguay's Microtrafficking Approach Under Question as Homicides Jump

DRUG POLICY / 20 MAY 2022

A spate of gang-related killings has caused panic in a marginalized area of Uruguay’s capital of Montevideo, raising debate about the alleged success of the country’s hardening security strategies.

São Paulo's 'Crackland' Drug Market Finds New Real Estate

BRAZIL / 8 APR 2022

Residents of Brazil's largest open-air drug market may have permanently relocated amidst renewed police interventions and the possible orders of organized crime.

Chile's Microtrafficking Zero Program: Success or Failure?

CHILE / 24 JAN 2022

After seven years in action, Chile's hardline strategy to rid the country of microtrafficking has been exported abroad, lauded as a remarkable success. But is the tough stance really working?…

El Koki or Wilexis – Who Runs Caracas’ Most Powerful Drug Gang?

COLECTIVOS / 12 NOV 2021

Unsurprisingly, Caracas consumes more drugs than anywhere else in the country. And despite a catastrophic economic crisis, a handful of gangs continue to make strong profits from microtrafficking in the…

5 Animals Used to Smuggle Drugs in Latin America

ARGENTINA / 7 MAY 2021

The cat-and-mouse game of evading law enforcement was taken literally by drug smugglers recently in Panama, who hid cocaine on a feline and sent it into a prison.

The Fuel Not the Fuse: Drug Trafficking and Ecuador's Prison Violence

ECUADOR / 22 MAR 2021

Drug trafficking and transnational organized crime have been blamed for deadly riots among rival gangs in Ecuador's prisons, but the carnage has more to do with how the country's gangs…

’Tis The Season: How Drug Traffickers Get Creative At Christmas

COCAINE / 25 DEC 2020

As another Christmas passes us by, drug traffickers have been embracing the season to be jolly with open arms once again.

Drug Dealers in Brazil Accused of Bankrolling Soccer Games

BRAZIL / 27 OCT 2020

To sell and promote their product, drug dealers in Rio de Janeiro have organized cash-prize soccer matches — in an example of how even low-level criminals use Brazil’s soccer-mad culture…

Drug Tunnel Discovery Highlights Battle for Mexico City’s Largest Market

JALISCO CARTEL / 19 OCT 2020

The recent discovery of drug tunnels confirms how Mexico City's largest market continues to attract criminal groups, competing to dominate a range of illicit businesses there.

4 Ways Microtraffickers are Getting Around Coronavirus Restrictions

ARGENTINA / 12 JUN 2020

Just like many legal enterprises trying to find ways to get their products to customers despite the pandemic, microtraffickers in Latin America have had to adjust to new ways of…

Microtrafficking Getting Worse in Outskirts of Bogotá, Colombia

COLOMBIA / 14 NOV 2019

Three years ago, a massive police operation swept through the Bronx, a small neighborhood at the center of much of the drug trafficking, prostitution and gambling taking place in Colombia's capital city…

Argentina Struggles to Kick Cocaine Habit: Report

ARGENTINA / 17 JUN 2019

A new report on drug consumption in the Americas once again lists Argentina as the country with the second highest rate of cocaine consumption per person, just behind the United States.

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About InSight Crime

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Who Are Memo Fantasma and Sergio Roberto de Carvalho?

24 JUN 2022

Inside the criminal career of Memo Fantasma  In March 2020, InSight Crime revealed the identity and whereabouts of Memo Fantasma, a paramilitary commander and drug trafficker living in…

THE ORGANIZATION

Environmental and Academic Praise

17 JUN 2022

InSight Crime’s six-part series on the plunder of the Peruvian Amazon continues to inform the debate on environmental security in the region. Our Environmental Crimes Project Manager, María Fernanda Ramírez,…

LA ORGANIZACIÓN

Series on Plunder of Peru’s Amazon Makes Headlines

10 JUN 2022

Since launching on June 2, InSight Crime’s six-part series on environmental crime in Peru’s Amazon has been well-received. Detailing the shocking impunity enjoyed by those plundering the rainforest, the investigation…

THE ORGANIZATION

Duarte’s Death Makes Waves

3 JUN 2022

The announcement of the death of Gentil Duarte, one of the top dissident commanders of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), continues to reverberate in Venezuela and Colombia.

THE ORGANIZATION

Cattle Trafficking Acclaim, Investigation into Peru’s Amazon 

27 MAY 2022

On May 18, InSight Crime launched its most recent investigation into cattle trafficking between Central America and Mexico. It showed precisely how beef, illicitly produced in Honduras, Guatemala…

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