Illegal timber in Peru is sourced and sold across the country. But most of the money laundering happens in between these destinations. Our team traveled to Pucallpa, the hub of…
Imaging compiled by the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP) shows how in 2018 medium scale deforestation affected huge swaths of rainforest in Peru’s central and southern jungle…
A poorly defined and lawless border region between Belize and Guatemala is proving to be fertile ground for eco traffickers to further their criminal interests, underscoring how a lack of…
The six bodies, minus their heads, were dumped just before dawn on a morning in late October. They were left in front of a gas station on the outskirts of Creel,…
Two years after the signing of a peace deal between the Colombian government and the FARC, Colombia’s forests are under siege and experiencing heightened levels of deforestation promoted by various…
In early December, authorities dramatically curtailed the power of the Pelle-Vottari clan - a grouping within the formidable ‘Ndrangheta mafia — arresting Domenico Pelle along with 89 others associated with…
Authorities in Paraguay have arrested more than a dozen police officers for attempting to steal confiscated wood, underscoring the attractiveness of Latin America's illegal logging industry for opportunistic corrupt law…
A new report into an emblematic case of timber trafficking in Peru highlights the corruption and fraud that continue to sabotage attempts to crack down on a trade that is…
The United States has blocked imports from a Peru timber exporter suspected of illegal logging in a move that is the first of its kind. But the impact of the…
It was around midnight that police in a rural area of the northern department of Olancho first heard the distinctive buzz of a low-flying aircraft. Night duty officers in three…
A new study estimates that up to 30 percent of all deforestation in three Central American countries is due to cocaine trafficking, providing some much-needed data on the relationship between…
An indigenous leader in Nicaragua says loggers are offering weapons to his community in exchange for illegally logging forests in their territory, providing yet another example of how Latin America's…
About InSight Crime
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…
Environmental and Academic Praise
InSight Crime’s six-part series on the plunder of the Peruvian Amazon continues to inform the debate on environmental security in the region. Our Environmental Crimes Project Manager, María Fernanda Ramírez,…
Series on Plunder of Peru’s Amazon Makes Headlines
Since launching on June 2, InSight Crime’s six-part series on environmental crime in Peru’s Amazon has been well-received. Detailing the shocking impunity enjoyed by those plundering the rainforest, the investigation…
Duarte’s Death Makes Waves
The announcement of the death of Gentil Duarte, one of the top dissident commanders of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), continues to reverberate in Venezuela and Colombia.
Cattle Trafficking Acclaim, Investigation into Peru’s Amazon
On May 18, InSight Crime launched its most recent investigation into cattle trafficking between Central America and Mexico. It showed precisely how beef, illicitly produced in Honduras, Guatemala…
Stay Informed with Weekly InSight
Get fresh updates on organized crime from across the region delivered to your inbox.
SUBSCRIBE