A new report by the international watchdog group Global Witness says two-thirds of documented killings of environmentalists over the last decade occurred in Latin America and nearly half in Brazil,…
Authorities in Mexico have seized a record 10,000 ton haul of illegal timber worth more than $1 million, another indication of the wide range of illicit activities undertaken by criminal…
A documentary by indigenous communities in Panama has cast light on the catastrophic effect of illegal logging and ranching on the country's rainforest, in another example of the impact of…
Authorities in Nicaragua seized over 1,400 cubic meters of timber harvested illegally from a northern forest reserve in 2013 -- likely just a fraction of what was extracted by illegal…
Nicaragua's army has captured the alleged leader of a ring of land traffickers a common crime in the country with links to timber mafias, cattle ranchers and corrupt officials.
Indigenous communities in the state of Acre in northwest Brazil's Amazon region are facing growing threats from cocaine trafficking, as criminals up their activity in the country's remote jungle regions bordering…
Deforestation in Ecuador is occurring at a rate of nearly 66,000 hectares a year, according to official figures, in part due to the depredations of illegal loggers, as well as…
Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon, which hit a low point in 2012, is on the rise again according to authorities, evidence of the difficulties of finding a sustainable solution to the…
Authorities in Costa Rica have called attention to the problem of illicit logging in the country, underlining the country's significant role in the highly profitable global illegal timber…
Armed men near the Pacific coast are apparently crossing into Nicaragua from Honduras to illegally log, highlighting the vulnerability of the countrys dwindling rainforests to criminal groups.
Interpol has seized nearly $40 million in illegally trafficked timber, the majority from Venezuela, suggesting the country is an increasingly important market for a criminal activitiy more commonly associated with…
Interpol arrested nearly 200 people and seized millions of dollars' worth of timber as its first international operation against large-scale illegal logging targeted Latin America's large illicit timber market.
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…
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