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This week, InSight Crime digs into coltan, a valuable mineral used in electronics that is feeding criminality on both sides of the Venezuela-Colombia border. Coltan, also known as “blue gold,” is mined illegally in Venezuela and smuggled by Colombian armed groups. We also report on emissaries of Balkan mafias moving into South America and Spain to control the cocaine trafficking chain to Europe, a development that dovetails with our investigation into the European cocaine pipeline, which now rivals that of the United States. Other notable articles from the region this week include a look at the capture of a Brazil gang leader in Paraguay who coordinated support from the First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital - PCC); a report on a rising number of human trafficking victims in Mexico amid the pandemic; and a video in which a pair of Venezuelan prison gang bosses chant their endorsement of ruling party candidates ahead of elections.
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