The Colombian government has reclassified the country's most powerful criminal bands as a pseudo military threat, authorizing the full use of force against them and raising questions over the legal and…
The recent arrests of Colombian drug trafficking bosses abroad is indicative of how local criminal leaders have set up residence across Latin America, both to expand their illicit business networks…
Colombia's Inspector General has said the country's softened position on eradicating coca crops has benefited the neo-paramilitary organizations known as the BACRIM, raising the question of whether these groups will…
Colombia's defense minister recently said that the criminal groups descended from right-wing paramilitary organizations should expect no formal demobilization process, reigniting a long-simmering debate in the country. …
Clashes between leftist guerillas and a neo-paramilitary organized crime group in the Colombian province of Antioquia may foreshadow the violent renegotiation of criminal economies and territories that could occur if…
Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos announced his administration will further increase pressure against the country's neo-paramilitary organizations known as BACRIM, a sign of the growing importance of these groups in…
A recent security operation confirmed the expansion of the Urabeños into Colombia's lucrative Eastern Plains region, highlighting the criminal organization's territorial expansion despite heavy pressure from the country's security forces. …
Colombia criminal organization the Urabeños' recently decreed 24-hour strike emptied streets and nearly paralyzed daily activities in the group's areas of influence, suggesting a deep social penetration and perhaps a…
A new report offers insights into where organized crime is most concentrated in Venezuela, but without more data from government agencies the country's criminal landscape remains shrouded in uncertainty.
Ex-paramilitary and founder of the Urabeños, alias "Don Mario," has linked former President Álvaro Uribe to paramilitary activity, but the current senator claims the accusations are simply a strategy to…
One of Colombia's most powerful criminal organizations could be moving into new territory in the eastern part of the country in an attempt to fill the vacuum left by the…
Venezuelan police have killed a former Colombian paramilitary accused of committing murders and trafficking drugs along the Venezuela-Colombia frontier, a development which the Maduro government could use to further justify…
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InSight Crime Events – Border Crime: The Northern Triangle and Tri-Border Area
Through several rounds of extensive field investigations, our researchers have analyzed and mapped out the main illicit economies and criminal groups present in 39 border departments spread across the six countries of study – the Northern Triangle trio of Guatemala, Honduras, and El…
InSight Crime’s ‘Memo Fantasma’ Investigation Wins Simón Bolívar National Journalism Prize
The staff at InSight Crime was awarded the prestigious Simón Bolívar national journalism prize in Colombia for its two-year investigation into the drug trafficker known as “Memo Fantasma,” which was…
InSight Crime – From Uncovering Organized Crime to Finding What Works
This project began 10 years ago as an effort to address a problem: the lack of daily coverage, investigative stories and analysis of organized crime in the Americas. …
InSight Crime – Ten Years of Investigating Organized Crime in the Americas
In early 2009, Steven Dudley was in Medellín, Colombia. His assignment: speak to a jailed paramilitary leader in the Itagui prison, just south of the city. Following his interview inside…
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