This week, InSight Crime analyzed the security proposals of Uruguay's main presidential candidates.
** Weekly InSight
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October 31, 2024
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This week, InSight Crime analyzed the security proposals ([link removed]) of Uruguay's main presidential candidates. Yamandú Orsi of the leftist Frente Amplio and Álvaro Delgado, of the ruling National Party, both advanced to the second round of voting, which will take place on November 24. The candidates are proposing preventative as well as repressive measures to deal with drug trafficking and common crime, two issues that are of growing concern to voters in the country.
Monitoring other elections this month, we report on how criminal groups in Brazil used money, corruption, and violence to influence the results ([link removed]) of the second round of municipal elections; we cover the proliferation of fake online pharmacies ([link removed]) in the Dominican Republic that are selling sometimes-deadly fentanyl-tainted drugs in the United States; and we report on allegations that the Treviño Morales brothers ([link removed]) , leaders of the Zetas in Mexico, are continuing to lead factions of the group from prison, following a new superseding indictment from U.S. prosecutors. We also covered a record cocaine seizure ([link removed]) in Spain.
** Featured
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** Crime, Drugs, and Violence Top Concerns in Uruguay’s Election ([link removed])
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As Uruguayans prepare to vote in the first round of presidential elections on October 27, security has emerged as a pivotal issue, with candidates shifting toward the center and debating whether prevention or suppression offers the best solution to escalating crime.
Despite Uruguay’s strong economy, low inflation, and a steady decline in certain crime rates, security remains a top concern, driven by rising violence and the nation’s increasing role in the international cocaine trade.
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Read our coverage of Uruguay > ([link removed])
** NewsAnalysis
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** Cash and Violence: Organized Crime Fights to Control Brazil’s Municipal Vote ([link removed])
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With the second round of Brazil’s municipal elections coming up on October 27, criminal groups are … ([link removed])
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** People Are Overdosing on Fentanyl Pills Bought From Fake Online Pharmacies ([link removed])
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US authorities recently targeted a drug trafficking ring that set up fake online pharmacies selling counterfeit prescription pills laced… ([link removed])
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** Feared Zetas Brothers Reign from Mexico Prisons: US Prosecutors ([link removed])
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Authorities in the United States have accused the feared Treviño Morales brothers of continuing to control remnants of the Zetas despite… ([link removed])
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** Spain Reclaims Position as Cocaine Gateway to Europe ([link removed])
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A record 13-ton seizure of cocaine in Spain in mid-October is more evidence that the country has returned as the main entry point … ([link removed])
Italy’s Camorra Moves Into Colombia’s Cocaine Capital ([link removed])
Arrest of Leaders of Ecuador’s Tiguerones Could Further Fracture Gang ([link removed])
Ecuador Is Coca Producer Country, Says President Noboa ([link removed])
** Impact
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InSight Crime researcher Sara Garcia was a guest on the Brookings Institute podcast “The Killing Drugs” to discuss the current dynamics surrounding fentanyl in some South American countries. The diversion and trafficking of this synthetic drug is of growing concern in the region, which has watched the United States struggle with an opioid epidemic fed by fentanyl overdoses.
Listen to the podcast > ([link removed])
Watch our coverage of fentanyl in Latin America > ([link removed])
** This Week's Criminal Profile: Los Tiguerones
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Within just a few years, the Tiguerones have risen from obscurity to a position as one of Ecuador’s most dangerous and influential criminal organizations and an important link in the international cocaine trafficking supply chain.
Founded by an ex-prison guard, the group was born in Guayaquil as a faction of the Choneros prison mafia. But it is rooted in the northwestern city of Esmeraldas and Esmeraldas diaspora communities in Guayaquil. After breaking away from the Choneros, the Tiguerones have forged a fearsome reputation as one of the country’s most violent criminal groups while building up an extensive portfolio of criminal economies, including retail drug trafficking, extortion, and robbery, as well as providing services for transnational drug trafficking organizations.
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Read our profile of Los Tiguerones > ([link removed])
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Read the article about the capture of “Negro Willy” > ([link removed])
** Multimedia
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October 31
#TrenDeAragua #Venezuela
The alleged expansion of Tren de Aragua in the United States has received national media coverage. InSight Crime has been tracking the group for years. However, methods for identifying members of the gang or their links to the organization remain uncertain.
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** Trending Topic: Colombia Steps Up Fight Against Wildlife Trafficking
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Colombian authorities recovered more than 507 animals and confiscated 570 skins of endangered species during three raids in different regions of the country this week. This type of trafficking is highly profitable for criminal groups and represents a serious threat to biodiversity and environmental balance in one of the most biodiverse countries in the world.
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** See our coverage on Colombia > ([link removed])
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** Read more about environmental crime > ([link removed])
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** Media Mentions
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October 30
Bloomberg ([link removed])
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"The more xenophobic a country, the more uncertain the status of Venezuelans in a country, the more fertile the ground for Tren de Aragua's continued exploitation,” said Jeremy McDermott, co-founder and co-director of InSight Crime. ([link removed]) "
Read our coverage of Tren de Aragua > ([link removed])
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