InSight Crime investigates the increasing violence in Tapachula, Mexico
** Weekly InSight
------------------------------------------------------------
June 20, 2024
View in your browser ([link removed])
This week, InSight Crime investigates ([link removed]) the increasing violence in Tapachula, a Mexican city on the border with Guatemala, which acts as a vital staging post for migrants traveling from Central America to the United States. Once a relatively calm city where criminality was controlled by MS13 and Barrio 18, Mexico’s major criminal organizations, the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG, are now battling for supremacy, and lucrative migration routes.
We also examine ([link removed]) the claims of the Venezuelan government that they have dismantled the Tren de Aragua, given the return to operation of small gangs in Aragua, the mega-gang’s home state.
In addition, we analyze ([link removed]) the data behind record marijuana seizures during the response to major floods in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; review ([link removed]) what the attempted assassination of family members of Colombia’s vice president says about the security situation in the country’s southwest; and outline ([link removed]) the key takeaways of the latest European Union drugs report.
This and more below.
** Latest Investigation
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
** Vortex of Evil: Gangs and Narcos in Tapachula, Mexico ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Sitting on a rock in a street on the outskirts of Tapachula, on Mexico’s southern border, Poison and Malandro share a cigarette as they reminisce. They met just two weeks before but have been inseparable since. Like countless other migrants who’ve settled in Tapachula, they were part of the gang wars in Central America before fleeing to Mexico.
This friendship could never have formed if they had met in El Salvador, where Poison is from, or Honduras, where Malandro grew up. In those places, they would have likely taken out a pistol, a machete, or a knife, and drawn blood.
Read the investigation > ([link removed])
See more coverage from Mexico > ([link removed])
** Featured
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
** Tren de Aragua Factions Persist Despite Venezuela’s Crackdown ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Gangs allied to Venezuela’s mega-gang, Tren de Aragua, remain operational despite multiple security operations against it, calling into question the Venezuelan government’s declaration that it dismantled the major criminal organization.
On June 4, officers from Venezuela’s criminal investigation unit (Cuerpo de Investigaciones Científicas, Penales y Criminalísticas – CICPC) arrested three alleged extortionists from the criminal gang, the Negritos. The gang operates in the San Vicente’s neighborhood of Maracay, the capital of Aragua state, and one of Tren de Aragua’s operational centers.
Read the investigation > ([link removed])
See more coverage from Venezuela > ([link removed])
** NewsAnalysis
------------------------------------------------------------
All News > ([link removed])
[link removed]
** Data InSights: Security Boost to Tackle Brazil’s Flood Chaos Led to More Marijuana Seizures ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Major floods in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul led to record marijuana seizures there as criminal groups seeking … ([link removed])
[link removed]
** Drug Traffickers Producing More Cocaine in Europe: EU Report ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Some cocaine production has shifted from Latin America to Europe, as criminal groups explore new trafficking methods and authorities boost transatlantic cooperation … ([link removed])
[link removed]
** High-Level Attack Punctuates Security Crisis in Southwestern Colombia ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
The attempted assassination of family members of Colombia’s vice president underscores the deteriorating situation in the southwest of the country and puts … ([link removed])
** Impact
------------------------------------------------------------
What We Do > ([link removed])
[link removed]
In an interview with Diálogo Político, InSight Crime co-founder Steven Dudley and investigator Lara Loaiza provided an in-depth panorama of organized crime in Latin America.
The interview analyzed the evolution of criminal groups and industries in the region, examined the spike in violence in Ecuador, evaluated the effectiveness of the United States’ so-called war on drugs, and discussed President Nayib Bukele’s model for fighting crime in El Salvador.
Read the interview > ([link removed])
** This Week's Criminal Profile: The First Capital Command - PCC
------------------------------------------------------------
Last week, police in São Paulo carried out an operation targeting a network of 78 hotels allegedly owned by the First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando do Capital - PCC) and run as storehouses to facilitate drug trafficking.
The hotel network reflects the scale and sophistication of the PCC, which increasingly exploits licit industries such as housing and municipal contracts to operate criminal industries in Brazil. The PCC controls drug trafficking in São Paulo and traffics drugs outside of the country.
[link removed]
Read our PCC profile > ([link removed])
[link removed]
Read our Brazil coverage > ([link removed])
** Multimedia
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
June 19, 2024
#chiquitabrands
“Almost 20 years after the demobilization of the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia - AUC), the framework of this group continues to come to light before the courts. A jury in the United States found the multinational banana company Chiquita Brands responsible for financing the AUC between 1997 and 2004.”
Watch full video > ([link removed])
Read our AUC profile > ([link removed])
Read our Colombia coverage > ([link removed])
** Trending Topics
------------------------------------------------------------
VENEZUELA ([link removed])
CENTRAL GENERAL STAFF ([link removed])
COLOMBIA ([link removed])
SALVATORE MANCUSO ([link removed])
Support out work
We go into the field to interview, report and investigate. We then verify, write and edit, providing the tools to generate real impact in fighting organized crime.
Donate today ([link removed])
[link removed] [link removed] [link removed] [link removed]
InSight Crime is sponsored by:
American University ([link removed])
Open Society Foundations ([link removed])
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency ([link removed])
Copyright (C) 2024 InSight Crime. All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you have signed up to receive InSight Crime's top weekly content.
You are receiving this email because you have signed up to receive InSight Crime's top weekly content.
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can
update your preferences ([link removed]) or unsubscribe ([link removed])
