Weekly InSight

This week, InSight Crime investigates the transnational expansion of Venezuelan’s prison gang Tren de Aragua, which was able to spread across into other South American nations by following and exploiting millions of Venezuelan migrants. After the seizure of Tocóron prison, the gang’s home base and stronghold, the criminal group must adapt or decline.


We also explore the overlooked human smuggling routes through the Dutch Caribbean. On the islands of Curaçao and Aruba undocumented migrants, especially Venezuelans, are at risk of sex and labor trafficking.


In Colombia, we analyze the newly launched investigation of the transitional justice body, which studies how sexual and gender-based violence had been weaponized during the long-running civil conflict. Armed groups continue to use gender-based violence to control communities, and these investigations will be vital in upcoming peace negotiations.


Finally, Haiti is set to have a new international force, led by Kenya, but sponsored by the United Nations. A daunting challenge faces them in this failed state where criminal gangs provide the only authority in many parts of the country.

Latest Investigation

Ten years ago, Tren de Aragua was a little more than a prison gang, confined to the

walls of the Tocorón penitentiary and largely unheard of outside its home state of

Aragua in Venezuela. Today, it is one of the fastest growing security threats in South

America.


Tren de Aragua’s transnational network now stretches into Colombia, Peru, Chile and

beyond. It has established some of the most far-reaching and sophisticated migrant

smuggling and sex trafficking networks seen in the region. And it has spread terror

in host countries and among the Venezuelan migrant population, which it has

ruthlessly exploited.


Chapters

  1. Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua Loses its Home

  2. Three Stages in the Construction of the Tren de Aragua’s Transnational Empire

  3. Tren de Aragua’s Criminal Portfolio: Adapt or Die

Featured

The United Nations Security Council gave the green light for deploying a multinational armed force to Haiti, but questions linger regarding the effectiveness of this international security presence.


The Security Council approved the deployment on October 2 amid an unprecedented security crisis in Haiti, where the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021 worsened an economic and social collapse that has led to lawlessness and widespread hunger.

Read the article here >

In light of the high-level bilateral security meeting between the US and Mexican governments, our investigator Victoria Dittmar engaged in a roundtable discussion with journalists José Buendía and Alejandro Almazán. They discussed what we can anticipate in terms of bilateral cooperation to address the fentanyl crisis.

*Please note that the roundtable discussion was held in Spanish.


Watch the discussion here >


Read our content on fentanyl >

This Week's Criminal Profile: G9 and Family

The G9 and Family (G9 an fanmi – G9) is a criminal federation of nine of the strongest gangs in Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince. Their leader and founder is the former police officer Jimmy Chérizier, alias “Barbecue”. The federation allowed member gangs to expand their territory and offer politicians a unified weapon with which to suppress their opposition.


The coalition had been formerly linked to since-assassinated Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and his ruling Haitian Tèt Kale Party (Parti Haïtien Tèt Kale – PHTK), for whom the G9 is alleged to have ensured votes and quelled social unrest in gang-controlled neighborhoods. G9 is now threatening to challenge the Haitian state itself, with Chérizier calling for a “revolution” in June 2021.

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