Timber Trafficking

All About Timber Trafficking

NEWS

5 Reasons For Record Deforestation in Colombia

COCA / 14 JUL 2021

Recently published data has shown that deforestation in Colombia soared last year, as a number of illegal activities drove forest loss.

Timber Mafias at Ecuador’s Borders Cash in on Balsa Boom

ECUADOR / 1 JUN 2021

Timber mafias operating along Ecuador’s borders with Peru and Colombia have been profiting from thriving demand for balsa wood.

Convoys of Stolen Wood - Widespread Theft in Chile's Logging Industry

CHILE / 21 MAY 2021

A spate of arrests targeting truck drivers carrying stolen wood have highlighted how the province of Arauco is at the heart of increases in timber trafficking across Chile.

Brazil's Environmental Agencies Linked to Trafficking of Amazon Wood

BRAZIL / 20 MAY 2021

The environment minister under investigation. The head of the environmental protection agency suspended. The Brazilian government is facing its strongest accusations to date…

Stolen Forests: Uncovering Colombia’s Illegal Timber Trade

COLOMBIA / 21 MAR 2021

More than half of Colombia is covered in forests, but rampant illegal logging is decimating the country’s woodlands.

Organized Crime and the Environment in Latin America: A Fatal Encounter

ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME / 3 MAR 2021

Latin America’s forests are being cut down at an accelerating rate. Asian markets are driving a trade in wildlife products, while wildcat miners decimate Amazon jungle from Peru to Guyana…

Decades of Deforestation, Illegal Mining and Impunity in Nicaragua

ELITES AND CRIME / 27 JAN 2021

Nicaragua's Indio Maíz Biological Reserve, on the southern border with Costa Rica, is under assault.

Peru's Patrones and Their Patrons

ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME / 18 SEP 2020

Nearly eight months after the wiretaps were installed, the conversations on the phones suddenly changed. The talk of logging, laundering and shipping illegal wood stopped. Instead the voices talked of…

How Drug Cartels Moved into Illegal Logging in Mexico

ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME / 18 SEP 2020

Chihuahua is Mexico’s biggest state, and more than a fifth of its 25,000 hectares is forested, mostly with pine trees of the type that are harvested in vast quantities in…

The Logging Barons of Catacamas, Honduras

ELITES AND CRIME / 18 SEP 2020

Catacamas is the largest municipality in Central America, home to thousands of square kilometers of pristine forest. Political elites in this remote part of Honduras have maintained a profitable relationship…

How Colombia Regulators Became Purveyors of Illegal Wood

COLOMBIA / 18 SEP 2020

In Santander, Colombia, timber traders corrupted regulatory, police and judicial systems on their way to trafficking untold amounts of wood from the state.

Indigenous Leaders Slain in Peru Amid Pandemic

COVID AND CRIME / 17 SEP 2020

Four Indigenous leaders in Peru's Amazon have been murdered since the government declared a state of emergency over COVID-19, revealing how their opposition to illegal logging, mining and drug trafficking…

Environmental Fines Become Flashpoint for Brazil's Deforestation Crisis

BRAZIL / 8 JUL 2020

The abandonment of environmental fines for illegal deforestation in Brazil is leading to a political scandal, with a cabinet minister potentially being removed from office and state governments breaking with…

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About InSight Crime

ABOUT US

THE ORGANIZATION

Unraveling the Web of Elites Connected to Organized Crime

27 JUL 2021

InSight Crime published Elites and Organized Crime in Nicaragua, a deep dive into the relationships between criminal actors and elites in that Central American nation.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Greater Focus on US-Mexico Border

20 JUL 2021

InSight Crime has decided to turn many of its investigative resources towards understanding and chronicling the criminal dynamics along the US-Mexico border.

THE ORGANIZATION

Key Arrests and Police Budget Increases Due to InSight Crime Investigations

8 JUL 2021

With Memo Fantasma’s arrest, InSight Crime has proven that our investigations can and will uncover major criminal threats in the Americas.

THE ORGANIZATION

Organized Crime’s Influence on Gender-Based Violence

30 JUN 2021

InSight Crime investigator Laura N. Ávila spoke on organized crime and gender-based violence at the launch of a research project by the United Nations Development Programme.