This week, InSight Crime shed light on gangs from the state of Zulia, Venezuela, that have expanded their operations across Latin America. While Tren de Aragua has dominated headlines, it is not the only Venezuelan gang with tentacles across the region.
Also this week, the creation of a ride-hailing app by Brazil’s Red Command gang shows how the country’s gangs are combining territorial control and technological sophistication to generate new revenue streams; the guilty plea of Sinaloa Cartel co-founder “El Mayo” Zambada to multiple drug trafficking charges in US federal court could reveal new connections with organized crime and Mexico’s highest levels of power; and a report from the Prison Observatory indicates that the system of criminal leadership in Venezuelan prisons, better known as “pranato,” has persisted despite government operations against it.
This and more below. |
|
|
|
|
|
📅 Upcoming Event | How War-on-Terror Tactics Could Change the Fight Against Organized CrimeDrone strikes on crime groups? Mass deportations? Blocking financial flows? These are some of the possibilities we’ll explore on September 26 in our donor-exclusive event. Sign up today to join this conversation with our experts.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
While headlines and political speeches have focused predominately on Tren de Aragua, another criminal group from Venezuela has expanded its operations in Latin America, leaving a quieter but no less violent mark than the more famous Venezuelan gang.
Tren de Aragua is infamous for its rapid expansion throughout Latin America. But a wave of criminals originally from the northwestern Venezuelan state of Zulia who have been arrested or killed in countries like Colombia, Argentina, and Chile reveals another branch of Venezuelan organized crime’s transnational reach.
Read the article here > See more Venezuela coverage > |
|
|
|
|
| | The system of criminal leadership born in Venezuelan prisons, better known as “pranato,” refuses to die despite the government operations that have hit it hard .… |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
InSight Crime investigator and project manager Victoria Dittmar provided expert analysis on the Spanish TV show laSexta about the ongoing factional war in Sinaloa, highlighting how the conflict between the Chapitos and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada’s son has sparked a “narcopandemia,” driving spikes in violence, forced disappearances, and the closure of businesses and schools in the state capital, Culiacán.
Read our Sinaloa Cartel coverage > |
|
|
|
This Week's Criminal Profile: Cartel of the Suns |
|
|
The Cartel of the Suns is a criminal network embedded within Venezuela’s military, spanning the army, navy, air force, and National Guard, and made up primarily of high-ranking officers involved in drug trafficking. This week, the network made headlines as the United States deployed military forces to Venezuela’s coasts to target drug trafficking operations linked to the group, a move backed by several Caribbean governments and met with a Venezuelan response that included sending some 15,000 troops to the Colombian border. |
|
|
|
|
|
| | | "On the Radar is here, a new weekly video from InSight Crime that will keep you up to date with the top organized crime stories in Latin America. Watch for context, key stories, and insights to help you understand how the criminal landscape is evolving."
Watch the full video > |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| "'Last year was Trinidad and Tobago’s deadliest on record as the oil-rich nation recorded 625 murders and a homicide rate of 45.7, according to Insight Crime."
Read our 2024 Homicide Round-Up > |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Trending: Sinaloa Cartel's 'El Mayo' Pleads Guilty to US Drug Charges |
|
|
Ismael Zambada García, alias "El Mayo," pleaded guilty in a US court to drug trafficking charges. While the former Sinaloa Cartel leader avoided the death penalty, he will spend the rest of his life in jail. However, his lawyer denied that the former crime boss is cooperating with US prosecutors. Read more about El Mayo's infamous criminal career here. |
|
|
|
|
|
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. |
|
|
|
|
