28/05/2017 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
Blacklisting of Mexico Heroin Trafficking Group Could Signal Changes to US Strategy
The US Treasury Department has assigned a little-known heroin trafficking group based in Mexico to its "Kingpin" list, raising questions as to why US authorities are taking this step now and what it says about broader shifts to US anti-narcotics strategy.
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10/04/2017 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
Corruption Case Dampens Diplomatic Victory of Mexico Kingpin's Sentencing in US
A former leader of Mexico's Beltrán Leyva Organization was sentenced to life in prison in a US court, but this diplomatic victory was quickly overshadowed by allegations that a Mexican police commander had worked for years to undermine US investigations of cartel leaders.
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21/11/2016 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
El Salvador's FMLN: Talking Peace While Waging War
A series of videos showing officials from President Salvador Sánchez Cerén's administration holding secret negotiations with the country's principal street gangs prior to taking power have called into question the ruling FMLN's motives for talking to the gangs in the first place. Were they seeking an end to the gang wars or was it a way to prepare what has become a massive government offensive against them?
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15/09/2016 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
Despite Colombia Accord, a New Rebel Threat Emerges
Colombia's ELN rebel group is reportedly moving in on territory abandoned by the FARC guerrillas as part of their peace deal with the government, drawing attention to an inconvenient truth: the ELN stands much to gain from continuing its armed struggle.
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07/09/2016 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
Colombia Races Clock to Suppress Explosion in Coca Crops
A controversy over Colombia's drug strategy reflects an official sense of urgency to reverse booming coca cultivation as the country prepares to end over 50 years of armed conflict with the FARC rebel group.
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30/07/2016 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
How to Solve El Salvador's Security Crisis? A Modest Proposal
El Salvador is the most violent peacetime nation in the world, seemingly stuck in a perpetual cycle of gang hostilities and truculent police behavior. A new security approach could quell inflamed tensions, and just might lower the country's elevated homicide rate -- for good this time.
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04/07/2016 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
BACRIM: Winner or Loser in Colombia Peace Deal?
Colombia's organized crime groups are preparing to take over FARC-held territory once the rebel group withdraws from a decades-long conflict, but the country's looming peace deal is not a wholly positive development for these criminal organizations.
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22/06/2016 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
Mapping Colombia's Drug Trafficking Diaspora
From the jungles of Brazil to the elegant boulevards of Madrid, some of Colombia's most renowned drug traffickers of recent memory have been captured abroad, a sign of how the country's criminal groups are extending their tentacles across Latin America and into Europe.
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12/06/2016 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
Report Details Hierarchy of Guatemala's Sex Trafficking Rings
A new report provides details on the different levels of sophistication with which criminal groups run sex trafficking rings in Guatemala, shedding light on the business side of a highly lucrative criminal industry.
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05/02/2016 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
On 15 Year Anniversary, Govt Asks for New Plan Colombia
The Colombian government will mark the 15th anniversary of Plan Colombia by requesting a new assistance package from the United States aimed at facilitating the Andean nation's transition to peace after more than 50 years of conflict. But is a new Plan Colombia the solution to the security threats facing a post-conflict Colombia?
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20/01/2016 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
Is Mysterious Colombian Trafficker Now World's Most Wanted?
Media outlets are heralding a little-known Colombian drug trafficker as the top priority for US law enforcement now that Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán is once again behind bars. But this stranger-than-fiction story may be mostly fiction.
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15/01/2016 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
InSight Crime's 2015 Latin America Homicide Round-up
InSight Crime examines how countries in Latin America and the Caribbean fared during the past year combating violence in our annual homicide round-up.
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08/12/2015 | Medio Ambiente
LatAm's Top 5 Criminal Industries that Damage the Environment
As world leaders congregate in Paris to discuss how to address global climate change, InSight Crime highlights five criminal industries that are causing enormous environmental degradation in Latin America.
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23/10/2015 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
The Evolution of Criminal Influence in Colombia's Local Elections
The run-up to Colombia's local elections on Sunday has seen a drop in political violence compared to previous campaigns, but election monitors warn the influence of armed groups and mafia networks over politics in the country has far from disappeared.
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15/10/2015 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
Searching for Accurate Homicide Data: Latin America's 'El Dorado'
As violence dips to historic lows in some parts of Latin America and record highs in others, the question must be asked: do these large fluctuations in homicide data actually reflect reality?
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29/09/2015 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
Mexico's Missing 43: A One Year Retrospective
September 26 marked the one year anniversary of the abduction of 43 students near Iguala, Mexico. The event remains a defining moment of the Enrique Peña Nieto presidency, although the full truth of what happened to the students that night remains unknown.
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28/09/2015 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
Venezuela Believes Govt Involved in Organized Crime: Survey
A Venezuelan survey indicates a growing percentage of Venezuela's population thinks state institutions are carrying out and facilitating organized crime activities.
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25/08/2015 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
The Siren Call of Militarization in Latin America
There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that the militarization of domestic security is bad for human rights and has little impact on crime and violence in the long term. So what keeps attracting Latin American governments to adopt these "iron fist" policies?
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25/06/2015 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
Organized Crime Turmoil in Honduras Extends to Politics
After years of relative stability, the agreements that once governed Honduras' criminal underworld are reportedly falling apart, a development that would have no small effect on the political elites linked to organized crime.
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06/04/2015 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
How 100 Years of Failed Drug Policy Gave Rise to Mexico's Cartels
Many say Mexico's war on drugs began after former President Felipe Calderon took office in 2006, but a new book suggests that the genesis was prohibitive drug policies enacted by the United States at the turn of the twentieth century, a process that was later fueled by an economic trade agreement.
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17/03/2015 | Transparencia
US Accuses Venezuela Oil Company of $2 Bn Money Laundering Scheme
The United States has accused Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA of laundering $2 billion through offshore bank accounts, in the latest blow to the credibility of President Nicolas Maduro's administration.
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03/03/2015 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
Impunity Issue Looms Large Over Colombia's Peace Process
At a recent conference on Colombia's peace process, President Juan Manuel Santos offered little indication the government is ready to make the concessions to rebel group the FARC that would likely be needed to end over 50 years of civil conflict.
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09/02/2015 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
Venezuela's Most Wanted Govt Officials, Past and Present
In light of recent allegations against Venezuela’s second-in-command made by a defector to the United States, InSight Crime profiles the most prominent former and current Venezuelan government officials either indicted or accused of criminal activity.
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30/01/2015 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
Latin America's Top 5 Most Dangerous Border Regions
Many of Latin America's border regions are historically neglected by the state and prone to all types of organized crime, from criminal gangs preying on migrants to the smuggling of drugs and contraband. Below, in no particular order, are InSight Crime's picks for five of the most dangerous border regions in Latin America.
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22/01/2015 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
Journalists Increasingly Under Fire in Colombia
Wherever Daniel Mejia Lozano goes, he wears a bullet-proof vest and has a government-financed bodyguard. But he's not a security forces officer or even a public official. Mejia is a reporter.
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13/01/2015 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
InSight Crime 2014 Homicide Round-up
Latin America is considered the world's most violent region, and 2014 did little to change that. While some countries showed marked improvement in reducing violence last year, others saw the further deterioration of an already fragile security situation. As Latin American governments ponder strategies for lowering violence in 2015, InSight Crime looks at the 2014 regional homicide trends.
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12/01/2015 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
Contraband Bigger Problem than Drug Trafficking in Costa Rica?
Contraband is a bigger problem in Costa Rica than drug trafficking, according to government officials, highlighting the scale of the country's illicit smuggling of goods that range from cigarettes to medicines, while also raising questions on the current status of the country's drug trade.
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27/12/2014 | High Tech
Colombia - Hacker Network Foiled in $70 Million Bank Heist
A transnational criminal group nearly pulled off a historic cyber-heist of one of Colombia's biggest banks, highlighting how even the most advanced cyber security systems can be breached by what could soon be seen as the most common form of crime in the region.
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20/12/2014 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
Honduras Security Shift Confirms De Facto Reality of Military Control
The Honduras government named Julian Pacheco, an active military general, as the head of its Security Ministry in Honduras, another sign of its reliance on military personnel to fill positions in domestic security and other state institutions.
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19/10/2014 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
Rising Dragon? The Chinese Mafia Threat in Latin America
Chinese mafia operations in Latin America are little understood, but a recent report on these groups in Argentina illustrates how they make their presence felt via extortion, human smuggling rings, and the occasional murder. As China deepens its economic relationship with Latin America, it's possible these mafias may become ever more prominent.
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06/10/2014 | Inteligencia y Seguridad
El Salvador Police Underestimate Extortion: Reluctance to Report
El Salvador's police said that criminals received $8 million in extortion fees over a 20-month period, a number that business unions insist is just a fraction of the real figure, due to the fact that most cases are not being reported to police.
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