InSight Crime presents two investigative stories based on extensive field work.
** Weekly InSight
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April 5, 2024
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This week, InSight Crime presents two investigative stories based on extensive field work.
We report from Mexico, where criminal networks are turning to lucrative overseas markets outside of the United States to boost ([link removed]) their profits from the methamphetamine trade.
We also report from Colombia, where the country’s largest drug trafficking group, the AGC, has monopolized migrant smuggling ([link removed]) routes across the Darién Gap, earning the group up to $25 million a year.
In our other coverage, we analyze how the AGC’s expansion ([link removed]) threatens to upset President Gustavo Petro’s Total Peace plan; why there’s little basis for increasing concern ([link removed]) in the United States about the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua; and how a Venezuelan criminal leader used ([link removed]) his power behind bars to become a reggaeton star.
This and more below.
** Featured ([link removed])
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** Methamphetamine Traffickers in Mexico Become Global Wholesalers ([link removed])
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After a long day of work in the highlands, a coordinator for several clandestine methamphetamine and fentanyl laboratories in the Mexican state of Sinaloa climbed to the top of a mountain to get a cell phone signal.
It was around nine o’clock at night, in early March. A few minutes after arriving, the coordinator received a call from an acquaintance in the city of Culiacán, the state capital. Also on the call was an InSight Crime team member.
Read the article here > ([link removed])
See more coverage from Mexico > ([link removed])
** New Episode: InSight Crime Podcast ([link removed])
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** Demented Society ([link removed])
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In the latest episode of the InSight Crime podcast, we visit a migrant camp in Matamoros, Mexico to learn about how US policies push migrants to make more dangerous border crossings and empower Mexican criminal groups, including the Gulf Cartel.
We follow the story of Abraham, a Baptist pastor and death metal guitarist, who helps migrants at the Matamoros camp access basic services and navigate the bureaucratic hurdles faced by those looking to claim asylum in the United States.
Once a drug user and small-time trafficker, Abraham explains how religion changed his life and how he now uses music to try and protect at-risk youth from the clutches of organized crime.
Listen to the Podcast > ([link removed])
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** News Analysis
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All News > ([link removed])
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** Colombia’s AGC Squeezes Profits From Control Of Key Migration Choke Point ([link removed])
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White-sand beaches that were once designated for tourists have … ([link removed])
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** How Venezuela’s Prison System Fueled a Reggaeton Star’s Career ([link removed])
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The Venezuelan singer “Rsiete” is a mysterious figure. A full view of … ([link removed])
Q&A: How the AGC Threatens Colombia’s Plans for Total Peace ([link removed])
Is Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua ‘Invading’ the US? ([link removed])
** Impact
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What We Do > ([link removed])
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** InSight Crime’s Organized Crime Round-Up With Americas Quarterly ([link removed])
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Last week, InSight Crime Co-founder Jeremy McDermott sat down with Brian Winter, the editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly, to analyze the trends that are shaping organized crime in Latin America on the Americas Quarterly Podcast.
The conversation explores the causes behind the growth in criminal economies, the future of the “war on drugs” in the context of record cocaine production, and the differences in how countries across the region are tackling organized crime groups.
Listen to the interview > ([link removed])
Explore our investigations > ([link removed])
** This Week's Criminal Profile: 400 Mawozo ([link removed])
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This week, Addison Pierre Maalouf, a YouTube personality who was kidnapped by Haitian gang 400 Mawozo, returned to the United States. Maalouf runs the YouTube channel YourFellowArab and allegedly paid $50,000 to the gang to secure his release. He visited Haiti to try to interview Jimmy Chérizier, alias “Barbecue,” the leader of G9 and Family, a group of gangs rival to the 400 Marozo.
400 Mawozo is one of Haiti’s most powerful criminal organizations. Formed in 2016, the gang shot to international notoriety in 2021 after abducting 17 American and Canadian missionaries. Between June and September of that year, the group was believed to be behind 80% of the country’s kidnappings, which largely affected Haitian citizens.
The gang controls Croix-des-Bouquets, a Port-au-Prince suburb with highways that link Haiti’s northern and eastern regions to the capital. This strategic location gives 400 Mawozo access to lucrative extortion and trafficking criminal economies. The gang’s leader, Lanmo Sanjou, is on the FBI’s Most Wanted List.
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Read our 400 Mawozo profile > ([link removed])
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Read our Haiti coverage > ([link removed])
** Media Mentions
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About Us > ([link removed])
March 29, 2024
Global Investigative Journalism Network ([link removed])
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“In this report from InSight Crime, there are two charts side by side: one showing cocaine seized in Ecuador by metric ton, a figure that surges precipitously upwards from 2019, and the other showing the homicide rate, which sees the exact same vertiginous increase from around 2020.”
Read the cited article here > ([link removed])
** Our Trending Topics
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G9 AND FAMILY ([link removed])
BOLIVIA ([link removed])
EX-FARC MAFIA ([link removed])
BRAZIL ([link removed])
Support our work
We go into the field to interview, report and investigate. We then verify, write, and edit, providing the tools to generate real impact on fighting organized crime.
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InSight Crime is sponsored by:
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Open Society Foundations ([link removed])
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