All About Panama

MONEY LAUNDERING / 10 MAR 2020

A new report says that Panama remains a nation of “particular concern” when it comes to financial secrecy and money laundering, suggesting that the Central American nation hasn’t quite kicked…

ARGENTINA / 5 MAR 2020

In a year marked by political and criminal turmoil, Latin American capitals did not escape the effects of the violence, organized crime and state repression experienced throughout the region.

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 31 JAN 2020

Authorities in Panama have ended a nearly decade-long ban on the importation of firearms into the country, a move that could end up benefiting traffickers and corrupt officials at a…

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…

COSTA RICA / 9 AUG 2019

Authorities in Panama and Costa Rica have dismantled an international human smuggling ring, highlighting the success of police cooperation in both countries’ fight against established smuggling networks.

EXTORTION / 29 APR 2019

In Panama, women in the sex trade are exposed to monetary and sexual extortion by corrupt police officers. But a new prosecution system has gone some way to reducing this…

The variety of extortionists in Central America speaks to the ease with which opportunists can set up their own schemes. Independent actors have taken advantage of the low barriers entry…

A cheap phone and a few dollars’ worth of prepaid credit serve as the rudimentary tools of extortionists in Northern Triangle countries. Here are some of the most common schemes…

COCAINE / 9 APR 2019

Drug gangs have infiltrated a Panama port through employees who smuggle cocaine into cargo containers destined for Europe -- a trafficking scheme that shows how Panama’s shipping industry is used…

ARGENTINA / 20 FEB 2019

Since beginning in Brazil with the “Operation Car Wash” (“Operação Lava Jato”) investigation in 2014, the Odebrecht corruption scandal has been headline news across Latin America. Presidents, lawmakers, and business…

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 15 OCT 2018

Authorities in Panama are asking the United States for assistance in investigating an international arms trafficking network that may have included the participation of former security officials, raising questions about…

ELITES AND CRIME / 19 JUN 2018

Panama is seeking to clean up its image as a financial crimes haven by passing new regulations but the process has been tarnished by its failure to address certain policy…

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…