This week, InSight Crime won Colombia's Simón Bolívar National Journalism Prize for the second time, this year in the investigative journalism category for the written report,"The Informants of Tibú: How the Colombian State Unleashed a Wave of Femicides,” by Alicia Flórez and Lara Loaiza. The meticulously researched, year-long investigation exposes how women—many of them migrants—were recruited as informants by Colombia's security forces, only to be later displaced and threatened by criminal groups.

We also examined how smuggling across the Venezuela-Colombia border persists despite its reopening in 2022. Distrust of Venezuelan authorities, currency disparities, and the control of criminal groups along the border continue to fuel this illicit economy. Additionally, we explored  the growing reach of European criminal networks in Latin America and analyzed the criminalization of prison life in Brazil following the dismantling of the “canteen mafia,” and more.

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Smuggling Adapts to Reopening of the Colombia-Venezuela Border

As darkness falls over Cúcuta, Colombia’s bustling border city, shadows provide cover for criminal networks. Each night, illegal dirt tracks connecting the city to Venezuela become highways for smuggling, with large quantities of goods slipping past law enforcement.

“While we sleep, countless things happen in the city. And yes, smuggling is one of them,” a local business leader told InSight Crime.

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Coming Event

On December 4 at 11:00 am (Quito), InSight Crime will be staging a virtual event (in Spanish) to accompany the launch of our latest investigation into the violence and criminality that has engulfed Ecuador’s prisons, “Behind Bars, Beyond Control: The Fall of Ecuador’s Prisons and the Rise of Its Mafias”. Join us to discuss the failed policies, systemic corruption, and criminal dynamics that have shaped what has become one of the biggest security challenges facing the region today.

InSight Crime investigator James Bargent will be joined by Ecuadorian investigative journalists specializing in violence, prisons, and human rights, Karol Noroña, and Jorge Nuñez, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam and one of Ecuador’s leading experts on the prison system. The panel will be moderated by María Fernanda Ramírez, investigator at InSight Crime.

Register to the event >

InSight Crime is honored to receive Colombia’s Simón Bolívar National Journalism Prize in the investigative journalism category for text format. The award recognizes the investigation "The Informants of Tibú: How the Colombian State Unleashed a Wave of Femicides," authored by our investigators Alicia Flórez and Lara Loaiza.

This investigation recounts the story of Mar*, a woman whom the Colombian army attempted to recruit to infiltrate guerrilla groups operating in the Norte de Santander department. When the armed groups uncovered the infiltration, it triggered a violent backlash, leading to the murder, disappearance, and forced displacement of numerous women.

Read more about the award >

Read the investigation >

This Week's Criminal Profile: Sinaloa Cartel

In Catalonia, Spain, the local police force, Mossos d’Esquadra, in collaboration with the National Police, dismantled a criminal organization allegedly tied to the Sinaloa Cartel. Authorities reported that the 14 individuals arrested were involved in drug trafficking and implicated in the kidnapping and murder of a man.

Today, the Sinaloa Cartel operates as a network of drug traffickers, with two distinct chains of command. One faction remains loyal to Ismael Zambada García, alias "El Mayo," who was arrested in the United States in July 2024. The other is led by the sons of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias "El Chapo," known as the Chapitos. While the cartel's primary focus remains international drug trafficking to the United States, in recent years it has aggressively expanded into the synthetic drug trade, particularly fentanyl—fueling a devastating overdose crisis.

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