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Cyclones, Scorpions and Old School Killers - The War for Tamaulipas

FEATURED / 6 OCT 2021

It was so simple once. The Gulf Cartel and its ancestors maintained control of Tamaulipas for eight decades.

The Zetas’ Model of Organized Crime is Leaving Mexico in Ruins

GULF CARTEL / 30 AUG 2021

It was a Saturday, around 12:30 p.m. local time, when a caravan of three vehicles loaded with well-armed men and at least one woman began a violent rampage through Reynosa,…

The Next Generation of Criminal Groups Driving Violence in Mexico

BELTRAN LEYVA ORG / 12 AUG 2021

Mexico's process of criminal fragmentation has been a slow burn. Many of the country's mightiest criminal groups have been unable to stay united, either due to internal strife, incursions from…

Extermination Sites - The New Depths of Mexico's Disappearance Crisis

HOMICIDES / 4 AUG 2021

Families combing for clues about their vanished loved ones at recently discovered extermination sites in northern Mexico have turned to local cartel leaders for help - revealing their desperation to…

'Somos.': One of Mexico's Worst Massacres Told Through its Victims

HUMAN RIGHTS / 14 JUL 2021

The new Netflix series, “Somos.,” (We Are), offers a respectful but powerful look at the Allende massacre, one of the most brutal episodes of Mexico's war on organized crime, which…

Why is Veracruz Mexico's Most Dangerous State for Political Murders?

ELITES AND CRIME / 3 JUN 2021

Running for office in Mexico means risking one's life. Just one week ahead of local elections on June 6, at least 89 political candidates had been killed during the current…

From Street Gangs to Presidents: InSight Crime's Decade of Covering the Underworld

COCAINE / 18 NOV 2020

At InSight Crime’s 10th anniversary conference, presenter Robert Muggah described the primary reaction he has received when collaborating with the organization across Brazil, Colombia, Peru and El Salvador. “Wherever we…

Mexico Cartels Hand Out Food Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

COVID AND CRIME / 28 APR 2020

Recent cases of criminal groups distributing supplies in Mexico suggest that the coronavirus pandemic has presented an opportunity to cultivate popular support and consolidate territorial control in areas where people…

The US-Mexico Border’s Eastern End: A Forgotten Criminal Enclave?

COCAINE / 12 SEP 2019

While Mexico’s drug war has left much of its frontier with the United States threatened by cartel violence, a fine-tuned criminal strategy has allowed the border’s eastern extremity to remain…

Los Moreco, Worrying New Type of Criminal Group for Costa Rica

COSTA RICA / 3 MAY 2019

A new criminal group in Costa Rica, Los Moreco, is causing concern as their tactics, reach and admiration for Mexico's Zetas make them a far more powerful gang than the…

Veracruz Massacre Crowns Bloody Start of 2019 in Mexico

GULF CARTEL / 24 APR 2019

An infant was among more than a dozen people killed in a massacre during the heart of Holy Week in Mexico, underscoring the depth of the security challenges…

A Guatemala Drug Trafficking Chapter Ends in the US

ELITES AND CRIME / 22 FEB 2019

A judge lowered the sentence of a convicted Guatemalan drug trafficker in a US court on February 22, just weeks after US federal authorities released another convicted Guatemalan trafficker from…

Fragmentation: The Violent Tailspin of Mexico's Dominant Cartels

JALISCO CARTEL / 16 JAN 2019

Fragmentation has come to define Mexico’s criminal landscape as the days of monolithic drug cartel structures have ended, leaving behind smaller, more volatile criminal groups that have taken up other…

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InSight Crime Tackles Illegal Fishing

15 OCT 2021

In October, InSight Crime and American University’s Center for Latin American and Latino Studies (CLALS) began a year-long project on illegal, unreported, unregulated (IUU) fishing in…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Featured in Handbook for Reporting on Organized Crime

8 OCT 2021

In late September, the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) published an excerpt of its forthcoming guide on reporting organized crime in Indonesia.

THE ORGANIZATION

Probing Organized Crime in Haiti

1 OCT 2021

InSight Crime has made it a priority to investigate organized crime in Haiti, where an impotent state is reeling after the July assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, coupled with an…

THE ORGANIZATION

Emergency First Aid in Hostile Environments

24 SEP 2021

At InSight Crime's annual treat, we ramped up hostile environment and emergency first aid training for our 40-member staff, many of whom conduct on-the-ground investigations in dangerous corners of the region.

THE ORGANIZATION

Series on Environmental Crime in the Amazon Generates Headlines

17 SEP 2021

InSight Crime and the Igarapé Institute have been delighted at the response to our joint investigation into environmental crimes in the Colombian Amazon. Coverage of our chapters dedicated to illegal mining…

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