Weekly InSight
April 7, 2023 ([link removed])

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This week, InSight Crime explores the implications of US lawmakers’ push ([link removed]) to label Mexican criminal groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). While sending a loud message to criminals, the designation would likely achieve little more than that, offering the US no additional authorities to tackle organized crime.

Meanwhile, along the US-Mexico border, fentanyl routes may be changing ([link removed]) . Fentanyl ([link removed]) now turns up more frequently in Arizona than anywhere else along the border, including in California, where previous seizures were concentrated. Many factors could explain this shift, but uncertainty pervades among US law enforcement agencies as to the reason behind it.

We also look at how Brazilian gangs are attempting to consolidate ([link removed]) control of drug trafficking routes in Colombian border cities, while in Europe ([link removed]) , a new wastewater report provides important insights ([link removed]) into cocaine’s prevalence around the continent.


** Featured
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** Will Designating Mexican Crime Groups as Terrorists Help Fight Them? ([link removed])
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US officials are considering designating Mexican drug trafficking organizations as terrorist groups, but labeling criminals as terrorists would mischaracterize the security threat and apply the wrong tools to tackle the problem.

Both Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Attorney General Merrick Garland said they would consider designating Mexican crime groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) in recent testimony to US Senate committees. Their statements came in response to questions from Senator Lindsey Graham, who later introduced a bill to designate all of Mexico’s most prominent criminal organizations as FTOs.

Read the analysis > ([link removed])


** NewsAnalysis
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All News ([link removed]) >
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** Are Fentanyl Trafficking Routes Shifting on the US-Mexico Border? ([link removed])
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Over the last eight months, US officials have seized more illicit fentanyl at Arizona’s ports of entry than anywhere else on the US...

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** Brazil Gangs Behind Surging Violence on Colombia, Peru Tri-Border ([link removed])
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A wave of murders in the Colombia-Brazil-Peru tri-border area has raised concerns about the increasing power of Brazilian groups and the...

South America's Cocaine Supply Boom Shows Up in European Wastewater Analysis ([link removed])
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How Risks Facing Migrants in Latin America Have Multiplied ([link removed])


** Impact
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What We Do ([link removed])


** InSight Crime Investigators Interviewed
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InSight Crime senior investigator Douwe den Held was interviewed by Chilean newspaper El Mercurio ([link removed]) this week. Den Held discussed gang dynamics in Medellín, Colombia, and approaches used by the city’s law enforcement authorities to combat organized crime.

Read our coverage of Colombia > ([link removed])

Additionally, co-director Steven Dudley and former investigator Scott Mistler-Ferguson appeared on The Red Line ([link removed]) P ([link removed]) odcast ([link removed]) , speaking about the economics of Mexico’s drug trade, booming synthetic drug production, and the methods cartels use to sequester their ill-gotten cash.

Read our coverage of synthetic drugs > ([link removed])


** Criminal Actors
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Profiles of some of the notable criminal personalities and groups that have marked this week.

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** Red Command ([link removed])
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The Red Command (Comando Vermelho) is Brazil’s oldest criminal group, created in a Rio de Janeiro prison in the...
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** Jalisco Cartel New Generation ([link removed])
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The Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación - CJNG) is a criminal group that...


** Media Mentions
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About Us ([link removed])
APRIL 6, 2023
THE MODESTO BEE ([link removed])

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"MS-13 originated in Los Angeles neighborhoods after Salvadoran refugees fled a civil war in their home country in the 1980s, according to the online website InSight Crime. It is widely considered to be one of the world’s largest multi-national gangs, reaching from Central America to Europe."
Read our coverage of MS13 ([link removed]) > ([link removed])


** Our Trending Topics
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