All About Illegal Mining

ILLEGAL MINING / 30 MAY 2016

The Peruvian government has announced a 60-day state of emergency in the southwestern state of Madre de Dios due to mercury contamination linked to illegal mining, highlighting the environmental dangers…

GOLD / 10 MAY 2016

A recent report describes how the Sinaloa Cartel used gold sales to move drug trafficking profits from the US back to Mexico, shedding light on a practice that has become…

ILLEGAL MINING / 9 MAY 2016

The death of a gang leader allegedly responsible for the massacre of over a dozen gold miners in Venezuela represents a step forward for the official investigation. However, there is…

COLOMBIA / 21 APR 2016

Witness testimony implicates a recently captured emerald baron in the planning of a daring bomb attack against a competitor in Colombia's capital city, another sign of how deeply enmeshed the…

HUMAN RIGHTS / 12 APR 2016

In the wake of the killing of over a dozen gold miners in Venezuela's eastern state of Bolívar last month, InSight Crime reprints this article originally published by investigative partner Armando…

COLOMBIA / 8 APR 2016

A new report on organized crime and gold mining in Latin America offers insight into how states, the international community, and the private sector have failed to control a criminal…

ILLEGAL MINING / 17 MAR 2016

Venezuela's investigative police has launched an internal investigation into the recent murder of 17 gold miners, in a case that has become the center of a political war between the socialist…

ILLEGAL MINING / 14 MAR 2016

A Venezuela party leader has blamed corruption in the armed forces for the disappearance of 28 miners, hinting at long-standing military involvement in the illegal gold industry.

ILLEGAL MINING / 7 MAR 2016

Venezuelan officials are investigating the alleged disappearance of 28 miners, after reports emerged they were massacred during a confrontation over a gold deposit.

COLOMBIA / 15 FEB 2016

A recent investigation by the independent think tank Fundación Ideas para la Paz (FIP) reveals that while peace negotiations between Colombia's government and rebel group the FARC advance in Cuba,…

GOLD / 16 DEC 2015

In January 2014, InSight Crime reported on a record seizure of suspected illegal gold in Peru. Since then, that case has snowballed; marking a turning point in the modus operandi…

COLOMBIA / 7 DEC 2015

Authorities in Colombia have dismantled a network of illegal mining operators allegedly working for drug trafficking group the Urabeños, providing further evidence of how the country's criminal organizations are deepening…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

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InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

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InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…