InSight Crime's investigation into the web of connections tying gangs to politics in downtown San Salvador, published last week

Weekly InSight
October 9, 2020 ([link removed])

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InSight Crime's investigation into the web of connections tying gangs to politics in downtown San Salvador, published last week, really struck a chord. Now, as a follow-up, we look at how the government of El Salvador has negotiated in secret with the gangs to secure favors. Elsewhere, the murder of one mafioso has revealed how deep the Italian mafia has embedded itself in Costa Rica; a plane that crashed in Colombia may have been carrying drugs into Honduras a decade earlier; and a Dutch warship is developing quite the cocaine addiction.


** Featured
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** Salvatore Ponzo and the Italian Mafia’s Infiltration of Costa Rica ([link removed])
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In photos published by the Costa Rican press, Salvatore Ponzo, an Italian fruit exporter, wears polo shirts and baseball caps emblazoned with the logo of his company. He smiles, his beard neatly trimmed.

This was a very different look from the Ponzo who appeared in the Italian press, dressed in a leather jacket and tight-fitting t-shirt, glowering at the camera.

Read the Analysis > ([link removed])


** NewsAnalysis
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All News ([link removed]) >
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** COVID-19: Gangs, Statemaking, Threats and Opportunities ([link removed])
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It was March 2020, not long after fear of the coronavirus began spreading across the Americas, when several major criminal...

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** The El Salvador President’s Informal Pact with Gangs ([link removed])
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El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has vehemently denied swapping favors with gangs, but a slew of government officials and a person...

Crashed Plane in Colombia May Be Example of ‘Cloned Craft’ ([link removed])
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Dutch Ship Makes Waves with Record Cocaine Seizures in Caribbean ([link removed])
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Why Oil Theft Spread Across Latin America During Pandemic ([link removed])
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Chile Museum Heist Reveals Black Market in Cultural Objects ([link removed])
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Destroy, Rinse, Repeat – Peru’s Illegal Mining Struggles in Áncash ([link removed])
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** Criminal Actors
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Profiles of some of the notable criminal personalities and groups that have marked this week.

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** MS13 ([link removed])
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The Mara Salvatrucha, or MS13, is perhaps the most notorious street gang in the Western Hemisphere. While it has...
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** Red Command ([link removed])
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The Red Command (Comando Vermelho) is Brazil’s oldest criminal group, created in a Rio de Janeiro prison...


** Media Mentions
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About Us ([link removed])
OCTOBER 5, 2020
LATIN AMERICA RISK REPORT ([link removed])
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"A series of new reports from InSight Crime map out the criminal control of the downtown market area in San Salvador. I encourage you to go read the whole thing."
Read the investigation > ([link removed])


** Impact
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What We do ([link removed])
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** Investigation into Bukele Gang Pact Makes News
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InSight Crime made headlines in El Salvador and abroad after publishing a deep investigation ([link removed]) into how the administration of then-San Salvador Mayor, and now President Nayib Bukele, negotiated with gangs to gain space to clean up the city’s Historic Center. El Salvador’s two major newspapers, La Prensa Gráfica ([link removed]) and El Diario de Hoy ([link removed]) , quickly published their own articles on the report, and international outlets Univision ([link removed]) and EFE news agency
([link removed]) picked it up as well. A follow-up article ([link removed]) on Bukele’s informal pact with gangs to lower homicides also generated enormous interest on social media and was widely discussed among country observers.
Read the three-part series > ([link removed])


** Coronavirus and Criminal Governance
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InSight Crime Co-director Steven Dudley has written a prologue ([link removed]) to a compendium titled “Covid-19, Gangs and Conflict,” which puts together new and previously published reports on the pandemic’s effects on organized crime. Dudley notes that the coronavirus has provided criminal groups with fresh opportunities to extend their reach deep into the “commercial, political and social transactions that govern the day-to-day lives of people.” Edited by John P. Sullivan and Robert J. Bunker, the book was published by A Small Wars Journal – El Centro Reader ([link removed]) in August and is available for purchase ([link removed]) .
Read about COVID-19 and Organized ([link removed]) Crime > ([link removed])


** Our Trending Topics
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COCAINE ([link removed])
COVID-19 AND OC ([link removed])
COSTA RICA ([link removed])
ELITES AND OC ([link removed])

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