Female members of a cell of Brazil’s violent PCC prison gang ordered and carried out the killing of another woman, challenging the assumption that women only occupy the gang’s lowest…
A damning report stating that federal agents systematically tortured prisoners in Brazil's northern state of Pará have found little attention from President Jair Bolsonaro, who dismissed questions about the scandal as…
A group that used homeless people to smuggle cell phones and drugs into Costa Rican prisons is under investigation, the second time such a ring has been exposed in two…
Members of Venezuela's large and dangerous Tren del Aragua gang are actively trying to expand their group's influence in the Brazilian prisons where they are incarcerated. …
Relatives of imprisoned drug traffickers charged fees from other families to let them in to see their loved ones in an Argentine jail -- proof that prisons are fertile ground…
Alejandro Giammattei, a 63-year-old doctor linked to Guatemala’s right-wing elite, became the country’s president almost by surprise. After starting low in the polls, Giammattei became president-elect after certain more popular…
A string of inmate deaths after the deployment of extra troops and police to Ecuador's prisons illustrates that sending in reinforcements is not enough to end the country's prison crisis.
One of Mexico’s richest drug lords lives in luxury in his prison cell, attended by a butler and a private chef, demonstrating that the country’s most high-profile criminals are still…
A government crackdown on phone use in prisons has led inmates in El Salvador to adopt desperate measures to communicate with the outside world, including using toilet paper, toothpaste and…
A network of corrupt hospital officials is allegedly helping imprisoned gang members communicate attack orders to other associates, in just the latest state institution to be co-opted by the country’s…
The high-profile prison break of Italian mafia boss Rocco Morabito from prison in Montevideo has further called into doubt Uruguay's reputation as one of the continent's safest and least corrupt…
A new type of "pranato," or prison boss, is flourishing inside Venezuelan police stations, where riots, escapes, extortion rackets and killings are now common in holding areas. These makeshift prisons…
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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…
InSight Crime’s ‘Memo Fantasma’ Investigation Wins Simón Bolívar National Journalism Prize
The staff at InSight Crime was awarded the prestigious Simón Bolívar national journalism prize in Colombia for its two-year investigation into the drug trafficker known as “Memo Fantasma,” which was…
InSight Crime – From Uncovering Organized Crime to Finding What Works
This project began 10 years ago as an effort to address a problem: the lack of daily coverage, investigative stories and analysis of organized crime in the Americas. …
InSight Crime – Ten Years of Investigating Organized Crime in the Americas
In early 2009, Steven Dudley was in Medellín, Colombia. His assignment: speak to a jailed paramilitary leader in the Itagui prison, just south of the city. Following his interview inside…
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