As 2021 begins, InSight Crime’s GameChangers provides the five lasting consequences the pandemic will have on the criminal landscape...

Weekly InSight
January 08, 2021 ([link removed])

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As 2021 begins, InSight Crime’s GameChangers provides the five lasting consequences the pandemic will have on the criminal landscape of the Americas going forward. The annual series previously broke down the many ways the pandemic upended the underworld, forcing crime groups to survive global shutdowns but also providing them with new opportunities. Other highlights included a look at a new US president reviving an old approach to security policy in Latin America; a resurgence of the Central American cocaine pipeline; and how the spread of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua -- the country’s premier “megagang” and our criminal winner this year -- portends the expansion of Venezuelan organized crime to other South American countries.


** Featured
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** GameChangers 2020: Predictions for 2021 – Shaking Off the Virus ([link removed])
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Organized crime had to tighten its belt in 2020, and pickings remain lean as world economies contract and movement is restricted. Yet this crisis is likely to be a temporary stall and by the end of 2021, criminal activity will be back at full throttle.

Organized crime lives in the same world as us. It has suffered with the shrinking of economic activity, as a result of lockdowns. The movement of criminal commodities has been hit by travel restrictions. Several aspects of lucrative criminal economies, like drugs ([link removed]) and prostitution ([link removed]) , have been harmed by the plunge in social activity.

Read the Analysis > ([link removed])
Earlier reports from our GameChangers series:
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Tren de Aragua and the Exportation of Venezuelan Organized Crime ([link removed])
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3 Ways Criminal Groups Overcame Coronavirus ([link removed])
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The Resurgence of the Central American Cocaine Highway ([link removed])
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How Black Markets Became the New Normal ([link removed])
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Conflicting US Approach to Latin America Organized Crime ([link removed])
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How Organized Crime Survived the Pandemic ([link removed])
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** NewsAnalysis
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All News ([link removed]) >
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** Albanian Mafia Leaves Trail of Blood in Ecuador ([link removed])
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The killing of Albanian national Adriatik Tresa inside his luxury property in Ecuador has revealed details of his alleged criminal activities, painting a picture of how violent proxies of Albanian mafias...

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** Middleman Linked Colombian Gangs with Israeli, Japanese Mafia ([link removed])
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An Israeli national suspected of ties to Japanese and Israeli mafia groups is accused of drug trafficking and money laundering in Colombia...

Shrimp Gangs Rob, Extort, Kill in Ecuador ([link removed])
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Why Courtroom Corruption Has Costa Rica Concerned ([link removed])
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Uruguay Cracking Down on Cattle Rustling from Brazil ([link removed])
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Mexico City’s Roaring Trade in Wildlife Trafficking ([link removed])
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Labor Initiatives in Women’s Prisons Struggle to Reduce Recidivism ([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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** Urabeños ([link removed])
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The Urabeños emerged from the ashes of Colombia’s paramilitary movement to become the dominant...
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** ELN in Venezuela ([link removed])
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Colombian guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN) has...


** Media Mentions
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About Us ([link removed])
DECEMBER 22, 2020
FOX NEWS ([link removed])

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"The (Jalisco Cartel) has also upped the ante for sea and air authority too -- fighting the likes of Sinaloa and the vestiges of Los Zetas and Los Pelones to take heed over the vital port of Chetumal and the Yucatan Peninsula, according to an analysis by InSight Crime."
Read our report > ([link removed])


** Impact
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What We do ([link removed])


** InSight Crime Nominated For Gabo Award
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InSight Crime’s investigation ([link removed]) into “invisible” drug lord “Memo Fantasma,” has been nominated to be a finalist for a Gabo Award ([link removed]) , which recognizes journalism excellence in the Americas. Over two years, InSight Crime tracked Memo, who moved tons of cocaine with paramilitaries and then laundered money as an investor in Bogotá without facing a single arrest warrant. The six-part series -- published in March 2020 -- revealed Memo to be Guillermo Acevedo Giraldo, now a wealthy Madrid-based businessman. The investigation also uncovered a real estate deal between Acevedo and a company owned by Colombia’s vice president ([link removed]) that laundered money for the drug trafficker -- a report that generated headlines and intense scrutiny. Meanwhile, the Attorney General’s Office has
opened a criminal investigation into the drug trafficker, based on InSight Crime’s investigation. Gabo Awards are awarded by Colombia’s acclaimed Gabo Foundation ([link removed]) set up by famed novelist -- and journalist -- Gabriel García Márquez.
Read the Investigation > ([link removed])


** Our Trending Topics
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GAMECHANGERS ([link removed])
COVID-19 AND OC ([link removed])
CONTRABAND ([link removed])
EUROPEAN ORGANIZED CRIME ([link removed])

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