July 25, 2025
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This week, InSight Crime's new investigation ([link removed]) highlights the corrupt elite networks operating in the extractives industry in western Honduras. Our reporting shows how these dynamics accelerated environmental destruction and violence, as corrupt-criminal blocs led by local politicians backed projects that harmed the environment and placed land activists at risk.
Also this week, a trend of Ecuadorian criminal leaders turning up in neighboring Colombia underscores ([link removed]) how the country serves as both a refuge and a potential graveyard for bosses fleeing state crackdowns and intense violence back home; a new report shows how Mexico continues ([link removed]) to overlook promising alternative models to improving public security and rely on a militarized approach to public security; Human Rights Watch’s latest report on Peru suggests ([link removed]) that the country’s security crisis is also a political one, driven by a Congress that actively enables impunity while dismantling institutional checks; and the launch of an international manhunt in Mexico raises questions
([link removed]) about why the government is only acting now, three years after the allegations first emerged.
This and more below.
** Latest Investigation
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** When Corruption Kills: Extractives and Environmental Destruction in Western Honduras ([link removed])
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Honduras is among the most dangerous places in the world to defend land and natural resources. At least 23 environmental leaders were killed in 2023 and 2024 alone, making it the deadliest country for eco-defenders in Central America and the fourth-most lethal globally. Countless others faced criminalization, threats, and constant harassment at the hands of organized crime groups, private companies, and government actors for their opposition to a range of projects that threaten the country’s natural resources.
Chapters
1. What Happened When An Extractive Model Came to Honduras? ([link removed])
2. Environmental Destruction or Community Development? A Mayor’s Struggle in Western Honduras ([link removed])
3. Pay to Play: How One City’s Growth Fuels Corruption and Environmental Destruction in Western Honduras ([link removed])
** News Analysis
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All News > ([link removed])
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** Colombia: Land of Opportunity — And Danger — for Ecuador’s Crime Bosses ([link removed])
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A trend of Ecuadorian criminal leaders turning up in neighboring Colombia underscores how the …
Mexico Ignores Alternatives to Militarization: Report ([link removed])
Are New Laws Actually Worsening Peru’s Security Crisis? ([link removed])
Former Mexico Official’s Alleged CJNG Ties Spur International Manhunt ([link removed])
** Impact
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What We Do > ([link removed])
InSight Crime’s expertise on synthetic drugs was featured in a presentation by co-director Steven Dudley in an event hosted by the University of Shanghai and the US-based non-governmental organization Pax Sapiens. The event brought together Chinese counternarcotics officials, as well as US and China-based academics and researchers, to discuss key challenges related to crime, illicit drugs, and drug policy. Dudley addressed more than 300 attendees, focusing on InSight Crime's years of work mapping the precursor chemical supply chain, from places like China through Mexico, where illicit fentanyl and methamphetamine are produced at a massive scale.
Read our Precursor Chemicals investigation > ([link removed])
Read our China and Crime coverage > ([link removed])
** This Week's Criminal Profile: Sinaloa Cartel
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The Sinaloa Cartel, considered the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization in the Western Hemisphere, is a network of some of Mexico’s most important drug bosses. This week, the organization made headlines after US officials warned of the threat of drone attacks by the group during a Senate hearing. In 2024 alone, officials detected over 27,000 illegal drone flights along the border, many of them at night and above the legal altitude limit.
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Read our Sinaloa Cartel profile > ([link removed])
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Read more Mexico coverage > ([link removed])
** Multimedia
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July 22, 2025
#CostaRica #Cocaine
"The recent arrest of Costa Rica’s former security minister and the revelations in his case have shed light on the corruption and drug trafficking networks engulfing the government in what may be the most significant drug scandal in the country’s history."
Listen to our latest Podcast episode > ([link removed])
** Media Mentions
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About us > ([link removed])
July 18, 2025
Global Post ([link removed])
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"As organized crime groups become increasingly well-armed and well-funded, it is easier for them to corrupt officials using threats or bribery, InSight Crime wrote."
Read our latest Costa Rica analysis > ([link removed])
** Trending: Latest Narco Video Links 2013 Honduran Presidential Candidate to Cachiros Bribe
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A video that has blown up on social media in Honduras alleges that 2013 presidential candidate Mauricio Villeda received $400,000 in funding for his political campaign from the Cachiros crime group. Another video obtained by InSight Crime, which rocked Honduras last year, also depicted some of the same drug traffickers negotiating bribes with the brother-in-law of Honduras President Xiomara Castro.
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** New Narco Video Scandal Spotlights Selective Justice in Honduras ([link removed])
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** Narco Video Shows Traffickers Discussing Bribes With Honduras President’s Brother-in-Law ([link removed])
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Read our Cachiros profile > ([link removed])
Read our Honduras coverage > ([link removed])
Support our work
We go into the field to interview, report and investigate. We then verify, write and edit, providing the tools to generate real impact in fighting organized crime.
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