Weekly InSight

This week, we investigated Latin America’s predatory organ industry, a criminal economy often depicted as an urban myth, that is fueled by corruption and desperation with licit medical professionals wielding the knife. 


We also explained why the historic arrest of two of the Sinaloa Cartel’s most-wanted drug traffickers is likely to have a limited effect on stemming the synthetic drug tide. 


Additionally, we outlined the likely impacts that Venezuela’s presidential election will have on the country’s criminal landscape; we reviewed the rise in cocaine seizures in the French Caribbean; and we analyzed how Costa Rica plans to use extradition to tackle mounting judicial corruption.


This and more below.

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María Amalia Matamoros found herself in a difficult position in late June 2024, when she got a message from her friend Marcos*, asking if it was possible to sell an organ for as much as $200,000.


Matamoros, a Costa Rican surgeon and former president of the Latin American and Caribbean Transplant Society (Sociedad de Trasplante de América Latina y el Caribe – STALYC), told Marcos it was illegal and warned him about the dangers of exploitation and botched operations. 


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InSight Crime has been at the heart of discussions in the global media this week, analyzing the organized crime implications of two breaking news stories that have captured international attention.


InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott spoke with Blu Radio about how Venezuela’s election results will affect the country's criminal landscape, as well as the disruptive influence it might have on the peace process in neighboring Colombia. 


Co-director Steven Dudley and investigators Parker Asmann and Victoria Dittmar were also interviewed by CNN en Español, The Guardian, and Deutsche Welle respectively on the arrest of the Sinaloa Cartel leaders Ismael Zambada García, alias “El Mayo,” and Joaquín Guzmán López. “It’s a historic capture, of course, and symbolic,” Dudley told CNN. “But is it going to create a collateral effect or have an impact on drug trafficking? I really doubt that.”


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This Week's Criminal Profile: Sinaloa Cartel

Sinaloa Cartel leaders Ismael Zambada García, alias “El Mayo,” and Joaquín Guzmán López, the son of the now-jailed former kingpin, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias “El Chapo,” were arrested in El Paso, Texas on July 25 in an ostensible victory for US law enforcement. But what does it mean for the future of Mexico’s most powerful drug trafficking group?


While there is likely to be a period of uncertainty within the cartel that may result in violence, the arrests will not stop the group from continuing business as usual. El Mayo had already taken a step back from operations, so his detention is more symbolic than disruptive, and the decentralized structure of the synthetic drugs supply chain means that these arrests are unlikely to upend the flow of drugs that the group traffics worldwide.

Trending Topic: Venezuela Presidential Elections

Venezuela’s electoral authority declared Nicolás Maduro the winner of the presidential elections held on July 28. But the opposition has contested the results, decrying fraud.


InSight Crime has investigated the country’s complex criminal landscape and its evolution during Maduro’s previous two terms in office. 


To find out more, read these highlighted articles and explore the Venezuela Crime Observatory’s research and analyses.

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