Amid a shortage of cigarettes in Argentina after factory closings due to the coronavirus pandemic, the black market cigarette trade has surged -- an illegal economy with relatively low risk…
As the coronavirus crisis exposes the strains on Latin America’s notoriously overcrowded prison system, members of the region’s criminal elite are seeking temporary conditional releases and transfers to house arrest.
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…
About InSight Crime
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…
Environmental and Academic Praise
InSight Crime’s six-part series on the plunder of the Peruvian Amazon continues to inform the debate on environmental security in the region. Our Environmental Crimes Project Manager, María Fernanda Ramírez,…
Series on Plunder of Peru’s Amazon Makes Headlines
Since launching on June 2, InSight Crime’s six-part series on environmental crime in Peru’s Amazon has been well-received. Detailing the shocking impunity enjoyed by those plundering the rainforest, the investigation…
Duarte’s Death Makes Waves
The announcement of the death of Gentil Duarte, one of the top dissident commanders of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), continues to reverberate in Venezuela and Colombia.
Cattle Trafficking Acclaim, Investigation into Peru’s Amazon
On May 18, InSight Crime launched its most recent investigation into cattle trafficking between Central America and Mexico. It showed precisely how beef, illicitly produced in Honduras, Guatemala…
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