Recent incursions by the ELN to set up illegal mining facilities along the Caura River in central Venezuela are being seen as a threat by local Indigenous communities.
Miners in Peru have skirted coronavirus mobility restrictions to return to Madre de Dios -- an Amazon region where the military launched a massive 2019 operation to root out illegal…
Recent investigations in Colombia have found that government leaders and landowners in Colombia's department of Guaviare have teamed up to illegally deforest the Amazon in quest for mutual profit.
Social leaders across Colombia were murdered at an almost unprecedented rate in 2019, and for a wide range of causes. Criminal gangs seeking to protect their illegal economies, such as…
Satellite images show that while military operations against illegal mining in Peru's Madre de Dios region might be paying off, the same fight is not being waged in other parts…
The criminal, economic and political dynamics behind illegal gold rushes this past year in Venezuela and Ecuador were very different. But both countries illustrate the same trend: that illegal mining…
Mercury contamination caused by illegal mining in Colombia's Amazon is threatening the welfare of Indigenous communities who are now seeking legal action against the government. …
Authorities have uncovered that an eastern coastal region of Guatemala, known to be a cocaine corridor, has been used in the trafficking of jade -- a gemstone used for millennia by…
A recent Crisis Group report explores criminal dynamics in the Guyanese mining region bordering Venezuela, revealing how the chaos and violence of Venezuela’s mining arc is spilling over into the…
With Colombia now producing more cocaine than ever before, the rise of illegal mining, as well as widespread extortion, the ex-FARC mafia has all the resources it needs to rebuild…
The Los Roques Archipelago -- a group of islands off Venezuela's northern coast known for their white sand beaches and turquoise waters -- has become a staging ground for smuggling…
Venezuela’s historic meltdown is often explained as a consequence of bad governance, corruption and the collapse of the oil sector or of international sanctions. Solutions are sought in the political…
About InSight Crime
Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua Becomes Truly Transnational
This week, InSight Crime published a deep dive into the total control that Venezuelan mega-gang, Tren de Aragua, has over the lives of those it smuggles between Venezuela and Chile…
Turkish Traffickers Delivering Latin American Cocaine to Persian Gulf
Last week, InSight Crime published the second half of an investigation piecing together the emerging role of Turkish cocaine traffickers in supplying Russia and the Persian Gulf, which are among…
Turkey as a Lynchpin in European Cocaine Pipeline
InSight Crime is extending its investigation into the cocaine pipeline to Europe, and tracking the growing connections between Latin American drug traffickers and European criminal organizations. This led us to…
Memo Fantasma Coverage Gets Worldwide Attention
Guillermo Acevedo, the former Colombian drug lord and paramilitary commander better known as Memo Fantasma, may soon be allowed to leave prison. Since first revealing the identity of Memo Fantasma…
Who Are Memo Fantasma and Sergio Roberto de Carvalho?
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…
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