Drug Dealers in Brazil Accused of Bankrolling Soccer Games

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

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

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

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

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.

‘La Línea’ Gang Takes Deadly Hold on Colombia-Venezuela Border

A violent criminal gang known as "La Línea" has triggered several deadly shootouts in battles with other armed groups seeking to control remote trails near the main border crossing between…

Will Self-Defense Groups Form in Mexico City?

Angry street vendors in Mexico City are threatening to form self-defense groups if authorities can't stop the activities of a powerful organized crime group.

Gang in Mexico Offers ‘Drug Menu’ Via Encrypted WhatsApp

A drug gang in Mexico City is providing menus of its products and making deals via WhatsApp in a case that shows how dealers exploit encrypted technology to reach customers…

Mexico City Sounds Alarm on Potential Transformation of Its Gangs

Authorities in Mexico have identified seven gangs that are posing major security threats in the country’s capital, although their status and potential impact on the broader security situation remains unclear.

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…

What Is Behind the Recent Wave of Violence in Mexico City?

The discovery of two dismembered bodies in downtown Mexico City, the most recent in a series of violent acts, contradicts official declarations denying the presence of organized crime in the…

Costa Rica Dismantles Maximum Security Inmate’s Drug Ring, Again

The dismantling, for the second time in two years, of a drug trafficking organization in Costa Rica led by a man held in a maximum security prison is a worrying…