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This week, InSight Crime investigated a series of suspicious drug seizures in Venezuela. Members of the security forces may be recycling previously confiscated drug shipments, hiding them on beaches in Falcón state, and later “discovering” them to project an image of effectiveness in the fight against drug trafficking.


Also this week, the mounting pressure from the US government on Mexico’s criminal groups fuels inflated narratives about their reach; the DEA’s latest National Drug Threat Assessment identifies synthetic drugs as its main concern; a new study pegged the cost of violence in Mexico at $245 billion, 18% of the country’s economic output; and a prosecution in Honduras linked to another “narco video” exposed the growing politicization of the country’s judicial system.


This and more below.

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A large portion of drug seizures in Falcón, Venezuela, appear to be staged by the authorities to project an image of effectiveness in the fight against drug trafficking.


Members of Venezuela’s security forces have been recycling previously seized drug shipments, hiding them on beaches in Falcón state, and later “discovering” them to showcase results, according to a number of sources consulted by InSight Crime, including military personnel and individuals linked to drug trafficking networks.


Read the article here >

See more Cartel of the Suns coverage >

As international attention turns to Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans, InSight Crime’s deputy director of content Mike LaSusa joined Al Jazeera’s podcast “The Take” to provide expert analysis on Tren de Aragua. The Venezuelan gang has recently become central to the US immigration debate, with Trump seizing on it to represent the threat of unauthorized migration ahead of the potential deportation of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans from the United States.


Read our Tren de Aragua coverage >

This Week's Criminal Profile: Mayiza

The Mayiza, also known as the Mayos, is a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel linked to longtime leader Ismael Zambada García, alias “El Mayo.” US authorities arrested El Mayo at an airfield in New Mexico in July 2024 along with one of the sons of Sinaloa kingpin Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias “El Chapo.”


In the days that followed, leaders of the Mayiza claimed that El Mayo had been kidnapped by a rival faction of the cartel run by El Chapo’s sons, known as the Chapitos. The violence unleashed by the conflict continues to ravage the state of Sinaloa, and has caused a surge in murders and disappearances, and wreaked widespread economic havoc.

Trending: Alleged Albanian Trafficker Captured In Dubai

Albanian Dritan Gjika, the alleged leader of a drug-trafficking network with a strong presence in Ecuador and Colombia, was arrested in Dubai via a coordinated operation between Interpol, Ecuador, and Abu Dhabi. Wanted for drug trafficking, money laundering, and organized crime, Gjika had two active Interpol notices in his name and is one of Ecuador’s most-wanted criminals.

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