This week, InSight Crime reports from Durán in Ecuador, where state security forces continue to grapple with alarming homicide rates resulting from a conflict between the Chone Killers and the Latin Kings. InSight Crime analyzes the crisis and explores how Durán’s criminal dynamics mirror Ecuador’s broader vulnerabilities to organized crime and violence.
In Venezuela, armed forces have made a series of multi-ton cocaine seizures at clandestine laboratories in the province of Zulia. We discuss the criminal groups likely responsible and analyze Zulia’s transformation from a trafficking route to a key cocaine production hub.
In Mexico, an ongoing conflict between several criminal groups over extortion revenues in Guerrero has caused violence to spike. We take a look at the actors involved and write about how the state’s collusion with organized crime has facilitated the current rise in insecurity.
In the United States, the former premier of the British Virgin Islands has been found guilty on drug trafficking charges. The conviction underscores the outsized impact small countries can have on drug trafficking routes and the corrupting influence of drug money at the highest levels of politics.
This and more below.
