Weekly InSight
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

Salvatore Ponzo and the Italian Mafia’s Infiltration of Costa Rica

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 >

NewsAnalysis

COVID-19: Gangs, Statemaking, Threats and Opportunities


It was March 2020, not long after fear of the coronavirus began spreading across the Americas, when several major criminal...

The El Salvador President’s Informal Pact with Gangs


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’
Dutch Ship Makes Waves with Record Cocaine Seizures in Caribbean
Why Oil Theft Spread Across Latin America During Pandemic
Chile Museum Heist Reveals Black Market in Cultural Objects
Destroy, Rinse, Repeat – Peru’s Illegal Mining Struggles in Áncash

Criminal Actors

Profiles of some of the notable criminal personalities and groups that have marked this week.

Browse by country >

MS13

The Mara Salvatrucha, or MS13, is perhaps the most notorious street gang in the Western Hemisphere. While it has...

Red Command

The Red Command (Comando Vermelho) is Brazil’s oldest criminal group, created in a Rio de Janeiro prison...

Media Mentions

OCTOBER 5, 2020
LATIN AMERICA RISK REPORT

"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."
 

Impact

Investigation into Bukele Gang Pact Makes News

 
InSight Crime made headlines in El Salvador and abroad after publishing a deep investigation 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 and El Diario de Hoy, quickly published their own articles on the report, and international outlets Univision and EFE news agency picked it up as well. A follow-up article on Bukele’s informal pact with gangs to lower homicides also generated enormous interest on social media and was widely discussed among country observers.

Coronavirus and Criminal Governance

 
InSight Crime Co-director Steven Dudley has written a prologue 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 in August and is available for purchase.

Our Trending Topics 

COCAINE
COVID-19 AND OC
COSTA RICA
ELITES AND OC
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InSight Crime · Medellin · Medellin 0000 · Colombia