Despite improving homicide statistics, Belize continues to regularly declare states of emergency due to crime rates. But do these actually make a difference?…
El Coqui seemed to be comfortable. Caracas’ foremost gang boss had, for several years, dominated the sprawling neighborhood of Cota 905, a densely packed and poor part of western Caracas.
Misconceptions surrounding Mexico's drug trade have long been replicated in popular culture and public discourses.
In arguably the most polarizing election Peru has seen in its history, voters have selected, by a razor-thin margin, a leftist rural school teacher over the daughter of a former…
Manaus, the economic heart of Brazil’s Amazon, has come under siege from the Red Command gang after the killing of a top drug leader. But these attacks may be the…
Over 90 percent of active personnel in Mexico’s National Guard remain uncertified two years after the police body’s creation, marking the failure of a signature goal of Mexican President Andrés…
Running for office in Mexico means risking one's life. Just one week ahead of local elections on June 6, at least 89 political candidates had been killed during the current…
The number of displaced people within Mexico has increased for the first time in three years, indicating that the country's powerful criminal groups have stepped up the type of public…
With its homicide rates higher than ever in 2019 and 2020, Barbados is now confronting a difficult question: will it be able to bring the violence down or will it…
Several demobilized members of a notorious right-wing paramilitary group in Colombia passed themselves off as a new self-defense force and extorted locals, highlighting how these armed actors continue to terrorize…
Court cases. Hitmen. Interpol. International drug traffickers sometimes need to get away from it all. Brazil has sought to cater to that elite clientele and their specific requirements: living in…
Authorities in Peru have sent troops to an isolated river valley at the heart of the country’s cocaine trade after the massacre of more than a dozen individuals, raising fresh…
About InSight Crime
Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua Becomes Truly Transnational
This week, InSight Crime published a deep dive into the total control that Venezuelan mega-gang, Tren de Aragua, has over the lives of those it smuggles between Venezuela and Chile…
Turkish Traffickers Delivering Latin American Cocaine to Persian Gulf
Last week, InSight Crime published the second half of an investigation piecing together the emerging role of Turkish cocaine traffickers in supplying Russia and the Persian Gulf, which are among…
Turkey as a Lynchpin in European Cocaine Pipeline
InSight Crime is extending its investigation into the cocaine pipeline to Europe, and tracking the growing connections between Latin American drug traffickers and European criminal organizations. This led us to…
Memo Fantasma Coverage Gets Worldwide Attention
Guillermo Acevedo, the former Colombian drug lord and paramilitary commander better known as Memo Fantasma, may soon be allowed to leave prison. Since first revealing the identity of Memo Fantasma…
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…
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