All About Venezuela

COLOMBIA / 14 JUN 2021

A former FARC leader and veteran drug trafficker has sided with ex-commander Iván Márquez, a move that could prove crucial to the future of dissident FARC criminal groups in Colombia…

COCAINE / 26 MAY 2021

A Turkish mafia boss has claimed cocaine is being trafficked directly from Venezuela to Turkey in a viral video, pointing to the use of a route relying on the support…

COLOMBIA / 18 MAY 2021

The killing of a notorious Colombian dissident guerrilla leader on Venezuelan soil has the potential to destabilize underworld dynamics in both countries, fueling an already raging conflict along their shared…

ILLEGAL MINING / 17 MAY 2021

The escalating violence between security forces and a gang that formerly enjoyed official protection in Venezuela's foremost mining region shows how the breakdown of criminal and political alliances can lead…

BOLIVIA / 13 MAY 2021

Smuggling networks are feeding illegal mining operations across the Amazon Basin with mercury, despite global efforts to clamp down on the use of the substance.

GENDER AND CRIME / 5 MAY 2021

As sex trafficking has soared in Venezuela, seemingly legitimate modeling agencies are repeatedly being linked to cases of human trafficking, trapping young women and forcing them into sexual servitude.

EX-FARC MAFIA / 22 APR 2021

Reports by the Venezuelan government of landmines in Apure state, demonstrate the recent expansion of a warfare tactic used by guerrillas in Colombia into neighboring Venezuela.

COCAINE / 6 APR 2021

Recent drug charges against a little-known but powerful Venezuelan businessman come as a surprise given that he allegedly operated with impunity for decades on the country's northern coast.

COLOMBIA / 5 APR 2021

A sophisticated human trafficking network dismantled in Colombia, illustrates a pattern in how Venezuelan citizens, particularly women, are recruited.

COLECTIVOS / 2 MAR 2021

An increase in the number of reports of illegal invasions of homes and commercial establishments in Venezuela during the pandemic has revealed the ever-widening criminal portfolio managed by militant civilian…

ELITES AND CRIME / 25 FEB 2021

Venezuelan officials may have finally met a PDVSA corruption scandal they cannot allow to go unpunished, hinting at just how dire the country’s oil and gas shortage has become.

ELITES AND CRIME / 25 FEB 2021

As alleged Maduro financier Alex Saab awaits potential extradition to the United States, the Venezuelan government decided that a concert catered by a company linked to Saab’s illicit activities would…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…