All About Soccer Crime

BRAZIL / 2 JUN 2014

The son of retired Brazilian soccer star Pele has been sentenced to 33 years in prison for the laundering of drug proceeds, becoming the latest criminal to take advantage of…

MONEY LAUNDERING / 30 MAY 2014

Soccer has long been a unifying force in Latin America. When the World Cup begins on June 12, televisions in homes across the region will be tuned to the matches.

ARGENTINA / 14 MAY 2014

Authorities in Argentina have busted a gang of drug trafficking soccer hooligans, in a case that illustrates the criminal potential of the well-connected thugs known as "barras bravas."…

GUATEMALA / 10 JAN 2014

The title is not the name of the latest Guy Ritchie film. It refers to the relationship between soccer, avocados, wire transfers and money laundering in Latin America.

COLOMBIA / 17 DEC 2013

The father of Argentina and Barcelona soccer star Lionel Messi is under investigation for laundering drug money, in the latest scandal offering evidence that ties between organized crime and soccer…

COLOMBIA / 15 NOV 2013

A Spanish judge has ordered proceedings against a director of the Atletico Madrid soccer team and a former Spain international for allegedly laundering money on behalf of drug traffickers from…

ARGENTINA / 11 NOV 2013

A court in Argentina has taken control of a soccer player's registration while it investigates if funds from any future transfer were destined for a drug gang, in a case…

EL SALVADOR / 25 OCT 2013

In August this year, the sports magazine El Grafico published a story that shook the country: a player from the national soccer team, speaking anonymously, claimed that an international match…

ARGENTINA / 27 AUG 2013

The director of Argentina's federal police has received a death threat believed to be from one of the country's "soccer mafias" -- violent gangs that control the sport and…

ARGENTINA / 17 JUN 2013

A coordinated “mega-wave” of raids has exposed an alleged major money laundering and tax evasion scheme involving soccer clubs in Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile.

COLOMBIA / 26 SEP 2012

A Colombian soccer team announced that it may give up two titles won while the club was owned by a drug trafficker in the 1980s, drawing attention to the long…

GULF CARTEL / 9 JAN 2012

A goalkeeper suspended from a first-division soccer team in Monterrey, north Mexico, has been arrested on charges of helping a kidnapping ring to select wealthy targets.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…