This week, InSight Crime explores widespread panic around Latin America and the Caribbean about fentanyl.
** Weekly InSight
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October 20, 2023
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This week, InSight Crime explores ([link removed]) widespread panic around Latin America and the Caribbean about fentanyl. Most fentanyl found in the region has been diverted from medical sources instead of illicitly produced for consumption. The differences between the two are key, and while countries should take precautions against the drug, nowhere yet faces a problem of the same magnitude as the United States.
In Venezuela, we detail ([link removed]) the short-term and long-term solutions that could mitigate the country’s extortion problem. Extortion carried out by criminal groups and security forces feeds general insecurity concerns among the population, making it a significant driver of emigration.
We also cover the Ecuadorian election, where new President-elect Daniel Noboa’s ambitious plans to reverse ([link removed]) Ecuador’s violent security downturn will be challenged by a shortened term and stiff political opposition.
** Featured
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** Is the Fentanyl Market Expanding Across Latin America? ([link removed])
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Latin American countries have raised alarms about increases in medical fentanyl seizures in recent months. While there is some cause for concern, medical fentanyl is significantly different from the illicit fentanyl that has caused a health crisis in the United States and Mexico.
On October 6, Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Bureau (Organismo de Investigación Judicial – OIJ) told news outlet CRHoy that, since 2022, it had seized more than 1,000 doses of fentanyl in the country and had opened 10 judicial inquiries into the illegal distribution of the synthetic opioid.
Read the article here > ([link removed])
** NewsAnalysis
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** Venezuela’s Most Wanted List Notable for Its Absences ([link removed])
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A recently released list of Venezuela’s most wanted criminals has brought attention to some of the country’s…
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** Venezuela Security Policy: Combating Gang and Police-Driven Extortion ([link removed])
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Extortion pervades nearly all levels of Venezuelan society, sowing greater fear as it becomes more violent…
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** From Rhetoric to Reality on Ecuador’s Security Challenge ([link removed])
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Ecuador’s president-elect has presented an ambitious set of security plans to tackle the…
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** Paraguay’s Tacumbú Prison Takeover Marks Rotela Clan Resurgence ([link removed])
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By taking control of Paraguay’s largest prison, the Rotela Clan flexed its muscles. The siege of the…
** Impact
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What We Do > ([link removed])
InSight Crime managing editor Chris Dalby was interviewed by leading Argentinian news outlet La Nación ([link removed]) about continuing drug-related violence in Ecuador. As long as competition continues between organized crime groups for control of cocaine shipments, he explained, violence will continue to be a problem in the next administration.
Read our coverage of Ecuador > ([link removed])
Read our analysis of Noboa’s victory > ([link removed])
** This Week's Criminal Profile: Rotela Clan
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Last week, inmates associated with the Paraguayan drug trafficking group the Rotela Clan seized control of the Tacumbú prison in Asunción. While encroachments by the Brazilian First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital – PCC ([link removed]) ) into Paraguay have challenged the Rotela Clan’s dominance in recent years, their hegemonic control of Tacumbú, the country’s largest prison, is a testament to the homegrown group’s staying power.
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Read our coverage of the Tacumbú takeover > ([link removed])
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Read our Rotela Clan profile > ([link removed])
** Media Mentions
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About Us > ([link removed])
October 17, 2023
Diálogo Américas ([link removed])
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"Criminal groups are diversifying their sources of income away from drug, arms, and human trafficking. They are now venturing into environmental crimes, InSight Crime, an investigative journalism organization specializing in organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean, indicated in a report."
Read the report here > ([link removed])
** Our Trending Topics
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EXTORTION ([link removed])
PRISONS ([link removed])
FENTANYL ([link removed])
SECURITY POLICY ([link removed])
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