Weekly InSight
August 4, 2023 ([link removed])

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This week, we look at the fall ([link removed]) of an old-school mafia don in Venezuela’s second city of Maracaibo and the criminal chaos that ensued, intensified by the country’s economic collapse.

Moving further south we examine ([link removed]) Brazil’s criminal dynamics, its overcrowded prisons, the rise in disappearances, and the increasing availability of weapons. Continuing the journey south we expose ([link removed]) Uruguay’s top drug trafficker, who was in hiding in Bolivia, using false identities to live in plain sight.

And we interview ([link removed]) Deborah Bonello, author of new book “Narcas: The Secret Rise of Women in Latin America’s Cartels,” to develop a more nuanced understanding of the role of women leaders of the region’s organized crime groups.


** Featured
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** The Shattered Mafia Behind Criminal Chaos in Zulia, Venezuela ([link removed])
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Over Carnival weekend, as families crowded into Maracaibo’s small, air-conditioned shops, gunmen got off their motorbikes, entered a butcher’s shop, and without uttering a word, indiscriminately fired into the holiday crowd, wounding three people.

Less than two hours later, the violent scene played out again, this time in a small supermarket. The shooters left five bystanders wounded.

The two near-simultaneous attacks, just seven kilometers apart, were both motivated by extortion but had nothing to do with each other.

Read the analysis > ([link removed])


** NewsAnalysis
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All News ([link removed]) >
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** Uruguay's Top Trafficker Disappears Yet Again in Bolivia ([link removed])
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Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastián Marset has gone on the run after narrowly evading capture in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, showcasing yet again...

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** Firearms, Disappearances, Prison Overcrowding: Brazil’s Problems Are Getting Worse ([link removed])
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From overpopulated, crumbling prisons to tens of thousands of disappearances every year...

Women in the Room: Q&A With Narcas Author Deborah Bonello ([link removed])
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Latin America’s Criminal Bankers: Explaining Colombians' Monopoly on Gota-a-Gota ([link removed])


** Impact
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What We Do ([link removed])
Nine InSight Crime articles were cited by Deborah Bonello in her new book, “Narcas: The Secret Rise of Women in Latin America's Cartels.” Among the stories Bonello explores in the book is how Marllory Chacón Rossell became the “Queen of the South ([link removed]) ” and the roles of women in Guatemala’s extortion market ([link removed]) .
Read more about gender and crime > ([link removed])

InSight Crime investigator, Victoria Dittmar, gave a presentation at the Police Science Program at Universidad Estatal a Distancia (UNED), a Costan Rican state university, on fentanyl in Central America and its current risks.

Read our most recent fentanyl investigation > ([link removed])


** This Week Criminal Profile: The Meleán
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This week, InSight Crime delves into the historic criminal empire of the Meleán in Zulia, Venezuela, and its subsequent downfall.

Read our profile of The Meleán > ([link removed])
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For decades, the Meleán crime family was one of the most powerful criminal groups in Venezuela. Established by Antonio Jesús Meleán Vergel, alias “Antonito,” the clan controlled...
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** Last Article: ([link removed])
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The Shattered Mafia Behind Criminal Chaos in Zulia, Venezuela ([link removed])


** Media Mentions
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About Us ([link removed])
JULY 28, 2023
ZIMBABWE INDEPENDENT ([link removed])

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"Insight Crime [...] identified several top drug reception ports, including Durban in South Africa, Pemba and Nacala in Mozambique, Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar in Tanzania, Mombasa in Kenya, and Walvis Bay in Namibia to which Latin American drugs are delivered."
Read the cited article > ([link removed])


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We go into the field to interview, report and investigate. We then verify, write and edit, providing the tools to generate real impact in fighting organized crime.
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