All About Illegal Mining

COLOMBIA / 2 SEP 2019

A criminal network which used creative methods, including hiring legitimate jewelers, to help smuggle gold into Panama and launder proceeds back in Colombia has been brought down, underscoring the rising…

ECUADOR / 16 JUL 2019

Thousands of police and military have swept through the north Ecuador district of Buenos Aires in an attempt to control the illegal mining boom that has ravaged the region, but…

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.

COCAINE / 18 JUN 2019

Authorities in Peru say they have successfully driven illegal gold mining out of the Amazon, but will other illegal economies take its place?…

COLOMBIA / 6 MAY 2019

A new investigation by Colombia's Attorney General's Office has revealed a potential stain on revenues of a major gold mining company concerning attempts to launder profits gained from illegal mining.

COLOMBIA / 10 APR 2019

A new investigation into illegal mining has revealed that Peruvian prosecutors are digging into a large Swiss refinery for buying suspect gold. The case is the latest against a multinational…

BOLIVIA / 2 APR 2019

Bands of mineral thieves in Bolivia are sending recruiters to employ vulnerable workers to rob one of the state-owned ore mining companies.

COLOMBIA / 25 MAR 2019

Colombia’s southern department of Nariño is home to an extortion scheme, where two of the country’s largest criminal organizations, the ELN and the Urabeños, shake down illegal miners.

COLOMBIA / 21 MAR 2019

Colombian authorities have discovered that an important water resource is under threat from illegal mining in a rural area of Cúcuta, revealing that the region is dealing with far more…

ELITES AND CRIME / 21 MAR 2019

What do such distant countries as Venezuela, the Bahamas, Ireland, Morocco, Dubai and Turkey have in common? They were all part of the trade routes for illicit Venezuelan gold in…

DELITOS AMBIENTALES / 20 MAR 2019

Imaging compiled by the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP) shows how in 2018 medium scale deforestation affected huge swaths of rainforest in Peru’s central and southern jungle…

GENDER AND CRIME / 11 MAR 2019

Authorities in Peru have launched a largescale operation aimed at driving out illegal gold mining and other illicit activities in the Madre de Dios region, but similar operations have…

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…

THE ORGANIZATION

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…

THE ORGANIZATION

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…