04, 24, 2025
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** 📅 Last chance to register
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Our next virtual event is just a few days away, and there's still time to secure your spot. Join us for InSight Crime's Homicide Round-Up: A Decade of Analysis on April 28. For more details, visit the event page.
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This week, InSight Crime examined ([link removed]) how six illegal economies are putting some of the most important ecosystems in Latin America and the Caribbean at serious risk, intensifying pressure on both land and local communities. From illegal gold mining and drug trafficking to timber, wildlife, and land trafficking, these crimes are interconnected in a criminal web that grows at the expense of the environment. Despite government efforts to combat these activities, the lack of governance in key regions allows armed groups and criminal networks to take advantage of power vacuums to expand, leaving behind mass deforestation, river pollution, and the destruction of unique habitats.
We also explored ([link removed]) how the recent launch of Argentina’s first maximum-security prison for drug traffickers and hitmen—located near the city of Rosario, the epicenter of narco-related violence in the country—has reignited the debate over the effectiveness of hardline policies; we analyzed ([link removed]) how new internal disputes within the Sinaloa Cartel are redefining the rules of organized crime in Mexico; we reviewed ([link removed]) how art and culture have become sophisticated tools for money laundering in Latin America, with criminal organizations and corrupt politicians acquiring valuable works to hide the illicit origin of their profits; and we unpacked ([link removed]) how homicide
rates have evolved in Latin America over the past decade.
** Featured
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** 6 Illegal Economies Threatening Latin America’s Ecosystems
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Criminal organizations behind environmental crimes and other illicit economies in Latin America and the Caribbean are placing the region’s vast biodiversity, fragile ecosystems, and Indigenous ways of life under serious threat.
Latin America and the Caribbean are home to 60% of the world’s biodiversity and nearly one-third of its freshwater resources. Forests cover 47% of the region’s land, playing a critical role in carbon capture and sustaining the livelihoods of Indigenous communities.
Read the article > ([link removed])
See more of our coverage on environmental crimes > ([link removed])
** NewsAnalysis
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All News > ([link removed])
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** Can a Prison ‘Hell’ in Argentina Contain Rosario’s Narco Surge? ([link removed])
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Argentina has begun construction on its first maximum-security prison for drug traffickers and murderers…
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** The New Rules of Engagement in Sinaloa’s Latest Crime Wars ([link removed])
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A group of armed men stormed into a drug rehab facility in the city of Culiacán, Mexico…
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** How Criminals Use Art and Culture to Launder Money ([link removed])
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Money laundering using works of art, archaeological artifacts, and other cultural assets remains.…
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** The Decade-Long Evolution of Latin America’s Homicide Rates ([link removed])
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Organized crime — particularly cocaine trafficking — has been the main driver of homicides…
** Impact
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What We Do > ([link removed])
With international attention focused on the role of El Salvador’s mega-prison in US President Donald Trump’s deportation drive, InSight Crime’s expertise has been in high demand from major international media outlets. This week, co-director Steven Dudley spoke to the New York Times and ABC News to explain more about the prison where hundreds of deportees have been sent.
Read the New York Times article > ([link removed])
Watch the ABC News interview > ([link removed])
Explore our coverage of El Salvador > ([link removed])
** This Week's Criminal Profile: the Lobos
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In the space of just a few years, the Lobos have evolved from a splinter group of the Choneros to one of Ecuador’s most powerful and innovative criminal organizations, with thousands of members spread across the country and within the prisons.
This week, the Lobos made headlines after launching an attack on Los Choneros in Manabí, Ecuador, that left 11 people dead. The attack reflects the Lobos’ expansion strategy into territories dominated by their former allies and now main rivals, Los Choneros, intensifying violence in the region.
Read our profile on the Lobos > ([link removed])
See our coverage on Ecuador > ([link removed])
** Multimedia
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** Media Mentions
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About us > ([link removed])
April 23rd, 2025
Latin Times ([link removed])
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"Averaging more than five homicides per day since September, many local and security experts told InSight Crime that this level of violence is unprecedented in the area…"
Read our Sinaloa Cartel profile > ([link removed])
See our coverage on Mexico > ([link removed])
** Trending: US Intelligence Contradicts Trump on Tren de Aragua
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The US National Intelligence Council determined that the Venezuelan government is not coordinating an invasion of the Tren de Aragua gang into the United States, contradicting claims by President Donald Trump. His accusations were used as the basis for the deportations of alleged gang members to a mega-prison in El Salvador. So far, no conclusive evidence has confirmed whether many of the accused individuals belong to criminal groups.
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** Tren de Aragua ([link removed])
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** The Criminal Groups the US Just Labeled ‘Terrorists’ ([link removed])
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Read our coverage on Tren de Aragua > ([link removed])
See our Venezuela coverage > ([link removed])
Support our work
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