A selection of our investigations to read this summer

View this email in your browser ([link removed])


** *Summer InSights
------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome to the second and final installment of Summer InSights, our seasonal special where we share a selection of some of our most engaging publications to keep you entertained as well as informed about Latin America’s underworld.

Today, in our final special:
* We recount how the DEA investigated Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s 2006 presidential campaign for possible ties with some of Mexico’s biggest drug traffickers.
* We profile Ricardo Méndez Ruiz, head of the Foundation Against Terrorism (Fundación Contra el Terrorismo – FCT), the right-wing legal group spearheading a relentless judicial attack against Guatemala’s President Bernardo Arévalo.
* We take a deep dive into the drug ledgers that landed the former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, in a US prison for the next 45 years.
* We explore the complex criminal landscape of Tapachula, a Mexican city bordering Guatemala where migration and organized crime combine.


** ‘Operation Polanco’: How the DEA Investigated AMLO’s 2006-Presidential Campaign ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]

*18 years later, more questions than answers remain.
Read online ([link removed])
Watch video ([link removed])

Drug traffickers met with representatives of the 2006 AMLO election campaign, according to witnesses. This meeting would lead to a DEA investigation into the campaign of Mexico's current president. Find out what happened next. ([link removed])


** Ricardo Méndez Ruiz and the Art of Lawfare in Guatemala ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]

*A judicial battle for a country’s political soul

Read online ([link removed])
Watch video ([link removed])

Méndez Ruiz and sympathetic prosecutors have gutted key justice institutions. Now, he and his allies are taking aim at Guatemala’s president, Bernardo Arévalo, who has promised to reignite the county’s fight against graft.


** Murder, Corruption, and Drugs: The Ledgers That Could Sink Honduras’ Ex-President ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]

*Meet Juan Orlando Hernández, president and drug trafficker

Read online ([link removed])

When the military police detained Erika Bandy and Nery Orlando López at a checkpoint on June 6, 2018, they found, among other things, a notebook where they had written down all the details of their drug trafficking business. Among the entries were the names of Tony Hernández and his brother, Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras who was recently sentenced to 45 years in prison. ([link removed])


** Vortex of Evil: Gangs and Narcos in Tapachula, Mexico ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]

*It is impossible to understand Tapachula without understanding migration.

Read online ([link removed])

The city is located on Mexico’s southern border in the state of Chiapas, a little less than 20 kilometers from the Suchiate River, which separates the country from Guatemala. Over time, it has become an obligatory transit point for thousands of Central American migrants trying to reach the United States. It has a sound highway system, solid roads, and two ports that face the Pacific Ocean. What’s more, it is the first stop of an infamous cargo train known as “La Bestia,” or the Beast, which connects this southern region to the center of Mexico. It is also home to multiple groups fighting for control of very lucrative criminal economies.


** Visit our YouTube channel ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

Learn more about our most recent investigations and the most prominent criminal dynamics in the region in our explainer videos.
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
See all ([link removed])

If you enjoyed our Summer InSights, please consider making a donation so we can continue to bring you from-the-field, informed analysis on organised crime and its dynamics in the region. Every bit helps.
Donate today ([link removed])

Follow us
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[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.
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences ([link removed]) or unsubscribe ([link removed])