Weekly InSight
April 21, 2023
 
This week, InSight Crime breaks down the indictments unsealed against one of Mexico’s most powerful drug trafficking groups, the Chapitos, explaining what this means for the cross-border fentanyl and meth trade.

In other news, we analyze how a new Chilean law gives police greater leeway to use force against criminal suspects, after a number of officers have been killed or injured in recent weeks.

We also look at Spain, where Europe’s largest-ever cocaine lab was dismantled. While Mexican and Colombian nationals were arrested, cocaine production on the continent is likely still in its infancy. Spanish police also dismantled an Albanian criminal group that imported cocaine from Latin America to Europe, highlighting the growing role of Albanian smugglers in the transatlantic drug business.

And in Ecuador, a massacre in the northern port city of Esmeraldas underlines the competition over cocaine trafficking routes.

Featured

5 Takeaways From US Indictments of Chapitos, Associates

US prosecutors have taken aim at one of Mexico’s most powerful drug trafficking enterprises, the Chapitos, in a series of indictments that reveal the history of the group and the global evolution of the fentanyl trade.

In our Featured article this week, InSight Crime explores five major takeaways from the indictments.

Read the analysis >

NewsAnalysis

Chile Hands New Powers to Police as Security Deteriorates


Chile has given police greater leeway to use force against criminal suspects, but this hasty response...

Ecuador Gang Massacre Highlights Intensified Fight for Drug Routes

A massacre in Ecuador's northern port city of Esmeraldas has underlined how competition...

 
Spanish Mega Lab Raises Questions About Cocaine Production in Europe
Albanian Group, Clan Farruku, Controlled Cocaine Pipeline from Ecuador to Europe

Impact

InSight Crime Staff Cited as Experts by International Media

 
This week, InSight Crime deputy editor, Juan Diego Posada, was interviewed by the Associated Press about connections between the ex-FARC mafia and Brazilian criminal groups, and how their activities on the Colombia-Brazil border may impact the Total Peace plan.

Read our coverage of the ex-FARC mafia >


Also this week, the Chilean media outlet Tele 13 interviewed InSight Crime’s managing editor, Chris Dalby, about how rising insecurity in Chile fits into worsening violence across much of Latin America.

Read our coverage of Chile here >

Our analysis of Russia’s increasing role as a cocaine hub also garnered widespread interest, being republished by Business Insider and Infobae.

Read the analysis here >

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

Browse by country >

Iván Mordisco

“Iván Mordisco,” is one of the most important FARC dissident commanders in Colombia..

Choneros

The Choneros are one of Ecuador’s most prominent criminal groups, which first emerged in...

Media Mentions
APRIL 17, 2023
THE NEW YORKER
 
"A comprehensive 2021 investigation by the think tank InSight Crime revealed that Colombian cocaine cartels had shifted their focus to Europe after losing control of American distribution to Mexican groups."
 

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InSight Crime · Medellin · Medellin 0000 · Colombia