Paraguay issued its first-ever medical cannabis licenses this February, marking a major shift for the marijuana-producing country while raising questions about its approach to fighting illegal cultivation.
Thanks to a combination of great organizational capacity, control of prisons, high levels of loyalty among its members and dominance of key criminal economies, the PCC has become one of…
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.
Two recent events show how one of Brazil's regional gangs, the PGC, is making waves inside Paraguay, likely seeking to emulate the drug trafficking success that its larger rivals have…
Armed men shot and killed a Brazilian journalist who covered police and drug trafficking along the Brazil-Paraguay border, underscoring the precarious situation for reporters in a lawless region dominated by…
Over the last few years, the PCC’s continued expansion into Paraguay has seen Brazil's most powerful criminal group leave behind its roots as a prison gang to become a transnational…
Following the dramatic prison break on January 19 by members of the PCC, Paraguay’s president has once again sent military troops to the country’s penitentiaries, despite the initial military deployment…
A growing market for stolen or smuggled pesticides has left Brazil in a bind, as it fights increasingly large robberies at home while also cracking down on smuggled agricultural products…
In an unprecedented move, authorities in Brazil have requested the extradition of former Paraguay President Horacio Cartes to face money laundering charges related to the sweeping Odebrecht scandal, raising questions…
The recent arrest of a purported Brazilian criminal gang boss, as well as a number of collaborators, including police, along the Brazil-Paraguay border has revealed a complicated problem: nobody knows…
A brutal clash between two clans in a prison in Paraguay this year has shined light on the country’s consumption of crack, the drug that spurred the birth of the…
The June 2019 massacre of 13 Rotela Clan members by PCC inmates at the San Pedro prison in Paraguay shed light on the critical situation in which the South American…
About InSight Crime
Collaborating on Citizen Security Initiatives
Co-director Steven Dudley worked with Chemonics, a DC-based development firm, to analyze the organization’s citizen security programs in Mexico.
InSight Crime Deepens Its Connections with Universities
A partnership with the University for Peace will complement InSight Crime’s research methodology and expertise on Costa Rica.
With Support from USAID, InSight Crime Will Investigate Organized Crime in Haiti
The project will seek to map out Haiti's principal criminal economies, profile the specific groups and actors, and detail their links to elements of the state.
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InSight Crime Events - Border Crime: The Northern Triangle and Tri-Border Area
Through several rounds of extensive field investigations, our researchers have analyzed and mapped out the main illicit economies and criminal groups present in 39 border departments spread across the six countries of study – the Northern Triangle trio of Guatemala, Honduras, and El…
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