Weekly InSight

This week, InSight Crime publishes an investigation into the criminal economies fueling the destruction of Bolivia’s Amazon, where runaway forest fires and gold mining have led to record levels of deforestation.


We also analyze the confusion around Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, as countries across Latin America disagree on the level of threat the group poses.


Also this week, we report on the involvement of a high-ranking Spanish police officer and embassy official in trafficking drugs from Latin America to Spain, and track the increased use of massacres by urban gangs in Colombia’s Valle de Cauca region.


And, finally, we assess what the sentencing of a former Venezuelan military commander in the United States means for Venezuela’s state-led drug trafficking group, the Cartel of the Suns.

Latest Investigation

In 2023, Bolivia reached the highest level of deforestation in its history, with a primary forest loss of almost 500,000 hectares.


Fueling this destruction are out-of-control forest fires, the expansion of the agricultural frontier, rampant gold mining, and the construction of airports and drug laboratories in the middle of natural parks and protected areas.


The unrestrained plundering of timber and wildlife is also threatening the country’s biodiversity.


This investigation, conducted by InSight Crime in partnership with the Igarapé Institute, unravels the chain of environmental crimes driving deforestation and biodiversity loss in Bolivia.


Read the investigation >

In early April, police officers in Oruro, eastern Bolivia, received a tip that a group of men were going to pick up weapons and ammunition from a home in the city.


They stopped four Venezuelans, one of them a minor, armed with guns and grenades. The group threatened the officers, warning them they were members of Tren de Aragua – a notorious Venezuelan criminal group that has swept across South America. The men were eventually arrested, and the three adults later paraded in front of the press…


Read the article here > 

See more coverage from Venezuela >

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This is a costly, complex, and at times dangerous job, but one we consider to be essential to improving citizen security across the Americas.


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InSight Crime’s expertise was in heavy demand over the last week.


Firstly, our recent investigation, “The Informants of Tibú: How the Colombian State Unleashed a Wave of Femicides," was republished in full in Colombian newspaper El Espectador, and promoted by the Global Investigative Journalism Network.


Investigator and Ecuador expert Anastasia Austin was interviewed by CNN for her thoughts on Ecuador’s security referendum as it faces down a chronic security crisis.


Fellow investigator Christopher Newton also provided his insights to Latin America Advisor on Uruguay’s fight against drug trafficking.


And InSight Crime Chief Operating Officer María Elena Ortegón appeared as a panelist in a discussion on sustainability challenges for social impact organizations.


Read the Tibú investigation >

See more coverage from Ecuador >

This Week's Criminal Profile: Jimmy Chérizier, alias ‘Barbecue’

Former Haiti police officer Jimmy Chérizier, alias “Barbecue,” is a leader of gang alliance “Viv Ansanm" (Living Together), made up of the Haiti’s major gang federations including former enemies, G9 and G-Pep.


Barbecue founded the alliance last year, reportedly to bring down the administration of then Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Henry was recently forced to resign, and a transitional government voted in his temporary successor this week.


Viv Ansanm has attacked police stations, blocked roads, and freed over 4,000 inmates from prison. Barbecue says that the group wants a place at the table as the new government charts Haiti’s future.


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