All About Soccer Crime

BRIEF

Drug Dealers in Brazil Accused of Bankrolling Soccer Games

BRAZIL / 27 OCT 2020

To sell and promote their product, drug dealers in Rio de Janeiro have organized cash-prize soccer matches — in an example of how even low-level criminals use Brazil’s soccer-mad culture…

ELITES AND CRIME / 3 JUN 2020

Although the Mexican soccer league has canceled the rest of its season, one of its most acclaimed clubs has remained in the headlines as three of its directors are being…

ARGENTINA / 23 MAY 2019

With the Copa America soccer tournament nearing kickoff, authorities in Brazil have employed a number of tactics to ensure infamous fan-run gangs don’t spoil it. The measures may provide fans…

COLOMBIA / 23 MAR 2019

Jhon Viáfara, a roving midfielder for Colombia’s national soccer team, was arrested on suspicion of seeking to export cocaine to the United States. This is but the latest in a…

PERU / 20 DEC 2018

The arrest of businessman and former president of the Peruvian Soccer Federation, Edwin Oviedo, opens a new chapter in the profitable relationship between soccer and corruption in Latin America.

ARGENTINA / 7 DEC 2018

The troubled road that led to one of Latin America's most anticipated soccer finals being moved to Europe exposed, once again, the reach and influence of Argentina’s powerful fan-run gangs…

ARGENTINA / 28 SEP 2018

The arrest of several members of an international drug trafficking organization made up of soccer hooligans from Argentina and Colombia adds to the mounting evidence of the involvement of these groups…

ELITES AND CRIME / 30 AUG 2018

Authorities in the United States have sentenced two high-level soccer officials to jail time in relation to a widespread corruption scandal involving the world’s biggest soccer institution FIFA, but rooting…

NARCOCULTURE / 13 JUL 2018

The 2018 World Cup is about to end, but the case that unveiled a massive criminal conspiracy involving the international soccer organization FIFA is still ongoing.

ARGENTINA / 22 JUN 2018

The use of World Cup merchandise to smuggle cocaine around the world points to a longstanding relationship between drug trafficking and soccer, one of the world’s most-loved sports.

SOCCER CRIME / 14 JUN 2018

In our June 14 Facebook Live session, Senior Investigator Héctor Silva Ávalos and Senior Editor Mike LaSusa discussed the opening of the 2018 World Cup and the many ways that…

SOCCER CRIME / 14 JUN 2018

The Russia 2018 World Cup has begun. But behind the much awaited games are the stains of corruption and ties to organized crime tarnishing the most popular, and money generating…

ARGENTINA / 21 FEB 2018

An upcoming strike of the largest union conglomerate in Argentina is shedding light on labor groups’ criminal relationships and “mafia style” operations, as a cat-and-mouse game unfolds between the country’s…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report continues to be a reference in the region

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Staff Cited as Experts by International Media

21 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime deputy editor, Juan Diego Posada, was interviewed by the Associated Press about connections between the ex-FARC mafia and Brazilian criminal groups, and…