This week, InSight Crime goes inside the Argentine border town of Itatí, unraveling how police and government officials, including the town’s mayor...

Weekly InSight
March 19, 2021 ([link removed])

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This week, InSight Crime goes inside the Argentine border town of Itatí, unraveling how police and government officials, including the town’s mayor, facilitated a massive marijuana smuggling ring. Meanwhile, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández continued to make headlines at the US drug trial of Geovanny Fuentes Ramírez. One witness recalled the president taking $15,000 in cash from the accused trafficker. We look at how these latest allegations by US prosecutors make even clearer the Honduran president’s links to drug trafficking and have roiled cooperation between the countries. Other noteworthy reports from the week include a review of the contradicting views within the US government on aerial spraying of coca crops in Colombia and a report on how political overreach tainted the case against former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil.


** Featured
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** From Argentine Shrine to Marijuana Corridor: The Story of Itatí ([link removed])
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An ambitious mayor, a well-connected deputy mayor, dirty cops, a corrupt judge, and a lot of marijuana. This is the story of Itatí, the sleepy town that went from religious hub to key stop on Argentina’s marijuana highway, and the mayor that helped make it happen.

Read the investigation > ([link removed])

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On Tuesday, March 23, InSight Crime is wrapping up its six-part series on our two-year investigation into cross-border criminal dynamics in the Southern Cone’s Tri-Border Area and Central America’s Northern Triangle with an event on El Salvador. We will profile underworld actors and illicit economies in seven border departments through our online dashboard mapping tool. The event will also explore the country’s central role as a money laundering hub and gang headquarters. The discussion -- which will include presentations by InSight Crime investigators Ángela Olaya, Alicia Flórez and Victoria Dittmar -- will be moderated by Arnau Baulenas ([link removed]) , a lawyer with the Human Rights Institute at San Salvador’s Central American University (Instituto de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas — IDHUCA). The event starts at 3 p.m. El Salvador time and will be broadcast in Spanish ([link removed]) on YouTube
and in English ([link removed]) on Facebook.

Sign up for the event > ([link removed])


** NewsAnalysis
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All News ([link removed]) >
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** Will Drug Trial Finally Break US-Honduras Ties? ([link removed])
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Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández once again stole the limelight in a major drug trafficking trial in the United States, raising serious doubts about future cooperation between the....

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** In Brazil, Court’s Decision Illustrates Corruption Probe Overreach ([link removed])
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With Brazil’s Supreme Court canceling the conviction of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the country must now contend...

US Sends Mixed Messages on Aerial Spraying in Colombia ([link removed])
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Familial Fiefdom: Ocós, Guatemala and the Preciado Navarijo Legacy ([link removed])
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Ex-FARC Expand into Northern Colombia ([link removed])
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‘Cartel of the Robe’ Reveals High-Level Corruption in Colombia’s Courts ([link removed])
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Brazil’s Mining Regulator No Match For Illegal Gold Rush ([link removed])
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Uruguay Remains Hub For Trafficking Women to Europe ([link removed])
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Los Pachenca Emerge After Return of Paramilitary Boss to Colombia ([link removed])


** 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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** Segunda Marquetalia ([link removed])
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The Segunda Marquetalia is a group made up of former FARC guerrillas who refused to demobilize...
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** ‘Tony’ Hernández ([link removed])
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Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández Alvarado is a former Honduran congressman, the brother of the...


** Media Mentions
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About Us ([link removed])
MARCH 12, 2021
BUZZFEED NEWS ([link removed])

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"The DHS (US Department of Homeland Security) document cited an InSight Crime report from July that the Haitian government was using gangs to 'repress the opposition.' "
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** Impact
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What We do ([link removed])
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** Clans and Cross-Border Crime in Argentina
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Some four hundred people tuned into InSight Crime’s discussion on cross-border criminal dynamics in Argentina ([link removed]) , and hundreds more have since viewed the video online. The seminar looked at how rising domestic drug use (Argentina has the second highest cocaine consumption rate in the Western Hemisphere) has changed the criminal dynamics in the country, adding to the growth of family clans -- often with political connections -- that have found opportunity in smuggling cocaine and marijuana.
View the seminar here > ([link removed])


** Our Trending Topics
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