The two-year investigation into the elusive criminal nicknamed Memo Fantasma, published in March 2020, was the most widely read in InSight Crime’s history and was rewarded with the prestigious Simón Bolívar national journalism prize in Colombia.
Now, with Memo Fantasma’s arrest on June 25, InSight Crime has proven something more tangible: Our investigations, when carried out with patience and dedication, can and will uncover major criminal threats in the Americas. Publications from around the world profiled how Colombia’s investigators built on our report to isolate and capture Memo Fantasma. We look forward to working with our partners, supporters and donors to complete more such investigations in the future.
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And in late 2020, InSight Crime delivered a detailed report on the threats posed by Latin American organized crime groups to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, such as major cocaine flows entering the country through the Port of Rotterdam and a number of criminal economies present in the Dutch Caribbean.
This week, the Dutch government announced it would increase funds for law enforcement in Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten as part of a strategy to improve investigation of organized crime between 2020 and 2023. In a letter to the Dutch House of Representatives, the government explained that this decision was partially based on InSight Crime’s recommendations.