This week, InSight Crime provides firsthand accounts from child soldiers in Colombia about how they were recruited and the wide range of roles they...

Weekly InSight
April 9, 2021 ([link removed])
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This week, InSight Crime provides firsthand accounts from Colombia's new generation of child soldiers on how they were recruited and the wide range of roles they played: errand boy, landmine builder, frontline combatant and assassin. Meanwhile, our Venezuela Investigative Unit reports on the arrest of “Chiche Smith,” a little-known but powerful kingpin who operated with impunity for decades. The unit also looks at the Venezuelan government’s big bet on Bitcoin, possibly to hide illicit activity and financial flows. Other highlights this week included criminal groups extorting Mexico resort construction in Cancun, a cartel-linked mayor in Guatemala running methamphetamines, and a new security minister with a very checkered past in El Salvador.


** Featured
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** In Colombia, Child Soldiers Play Many Roles ([link removed])
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In this, the second of a three-part investigation by InSight Crime about the recruitment of minors in Colombia by criminal groups and insurgents, journalist Mathew Charles explores how minors are used by crime groups of all stripes.

When Yuli’s brother was killed two years ago in clashes with security forces in San Calixto, in the northern Colombian state of Norte de Santander, the rebels found an easy way to replace him.

Read the investigation > ([link removed])


** NewsAnalysis
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All News ([link removed]) >
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** Venezuela Kingpin’s Arrest Leaves Power Vacuum on Caribbean Coast ([link removed])
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Recent drug charges against a little-known but powerful Venezuelan businessman come as a surprise...

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** Bitcoin Cryptocurrency Adds to Venezuela Money Laundering Risk ([link removed])
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Venezuela is increasingly turning to the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, raising questions about its possible use in laundering money and evading US...

Criminal Groups Zero in on Mexico Resort Construction ([link removed])
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A Guatemala Arrest, a US Indictment, and a Mexico Attack ([link removed])
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Organized Real Estate Fraud Rings Threaten Property Owners in Costa Rica ([link removed])
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Dismantled Network Illustrates Pattern in the Exploitation of Venezuelan Migrants in Colombia ([link removed])
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A Large Galápagos Tortoise Seizure Raises Red Flags ([link removed])
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Digging Into Dirty Gold Across the Americas ([link removed])
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In El Salvador, a New Security Minister With a Dubious Past ([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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** CJNG ([link removed])
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The Jalisco Cartel New Generation is a criminal group that has evolved as a result of killings, captures and rifts in older...
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** ELN ([link removed])
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The National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN) is one of the two main guerrilla armies with...


** Media Mentions
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About Us ([link removed])
APRIL 1, 2021
THE WASHINGTON POST ([link removed])

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"Our belief is that the 10th Front refused to respect the pax mafioso, or informal peace among criminal elements, said Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, a think tank that studies organized crime in Latin America. They may have offended [Marín’s faction], or elements of the Venezuelan regime, by extorting the wrong person."


** Impact
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What We do ([link removed])
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** Paraguay Corruption Investigation Fallout
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Just a little over a month after InSight Crime’s exposé on how Paraguay Congressman Ulises Quintana ([link removed]) personally aided a major drug trafficker, the United States has imposed a visa ban on Quintana for acts that “facilitated transnational organized crime.” The fallout from the investigation has also been swift in Paraguay, with members of Quintana’s party asking for his ouster ([link removed]) and write-ups ([link removed]) in national newspapers about how the report revealed ([link removed]) drug traffickers had infiltrated
([link removed]) the highest levels of political power ([link removed]) . The Paraguay investigation was featured in a six-part series on crime and corruption in Latin America’s infamous tri-border regions: the Tri-Border Area of South America and the Northern Triangle of Central America.
Read the entire series > ([link removed])


** Our Trending Topics
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Browse by Country ([link removed])
PARAGUAY ([link removed])
ELITES AND OC ([link removed])
VENEZUELA ([link removed])
COCAINE ([link removed])

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