This week, InSight Crime dissects a new Europol report on the European cocaine trade, which now rivals that of the US in profits and is fueling...

Weekly InSight
September 24, 2021 ([link removed])

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This week, InSight Crime dissects a new Europol report on the European cocaine trade, which now rivals that of the US in profits and is fueling the rise of new criminal players, particularly the Albanian mafia. We also look at how a scrapped investigation into food aid theft in El Salvador points not only to a top prison official in the administration of President Nayib Bukele but provides evidence that the government is abandoning corruption probes.

Other highlights include a heist of small aircraft in Brazil to serve as drug planes, a sweeping investigation into one of the first prison gangs in Puerto Rico, and how a city in Mexico’s most violent state was shaken after a package bomb killed two people in a restaurant.
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** Corruption at Every Stage: Legal Actors Meet Criminal Networks ([link removed])
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From ornamental fish trafficking to land grabbing, corruption greases the wheels of every environmental crime motor, feeding deforestation and biodiversity loss in Colombia's Amazon region.

Legal actors (corrupt individuals and networks, often in league with public officials or state authorities) act as facilitators to ensure the smooth operation of illegal logging, illicit coca crop cultivation, land grabbing, illegal mining and wildlife trafficking across the region.

Read chapter five of the investigation > ([link removed])

The last chapter will be published next Wednesday.


** Featured
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** Enduring Italians, Ambitious Albanians – How Cocaine is Changing Europe’s Criminal Landscape ([link removed])
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Ever greater quantities of cocaine are making their way across the Atlantic and are being sold at ever greater prices across Europe. A new Europol report reveals how this has changed the way organized crime operates on the continent.

In its new Cocaine Insights Report with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Europol has described how the cocaine trafficking landscape has, at once, become more violent and more competitive while also leading to a greater range of alliances between criminal groups.

Read the story > ([link removed])


** NewsAnalysis
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All News ([link removed]) >
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** Top El Salvador Officials Embroiled in Food Aid Theft Investigation ([link removed])
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A scrapped investigation into alleged food aid theft by officials in the administration of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has...

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** Bomb Threats: Mexico's Crime Groups Turn to Explosives ([link removed])
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A package bomb that killed a restaurateur and his manager underscores the escalating use of explosives – and the terror that...

Los 27, Puerto Rico’s Pioneers of the Prison Gang Model ([link removed])
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The Increasingly Busy Cuba-Uruguay Human Smuggling Route ([link removed])
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States of Emergency in Belize - Cure or Addiction? ([link removed])
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Aircraft Theft Across Latin America Continues to Fuel Drug Trade ([link removed])
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Venezuela Kidnappers Posing as Car Sellers to Lure Victims ([link removed])
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Jalisco Cartel Sets Off Alarm Bells Along Mexico-Guatemala Border ([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 (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación - CJNG) is a criminal group that has evolved as a...
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** Atlantic Cartel ([link removed])
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The Atlantic Cartel is a Honduran drug trafficking organization reportedly led by Wilter Neptalí...


** Media Mentions
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About Us ([link removed])
SEPTEMBER 18, 2021
BREAKING BELIZE NEWS ([link removed])

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"As the latest state of emergency (SOEs) in Southside Belize City comes to an end tomorrow, Sunday, InSight Crime is asking whether this fourth such emergency since 2018 really makes a difference."
Read the cited article > ([link removed])


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


** Emergency First Aid in Hostile Environments
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At InSight Crime's annual treat, we ramped up hostile environment and emergency first aid training for our 40-member staff, many of whom conduct on-the-ground investigations in dangerous corners of the region. The week-long training – taught by an expert in the field – toggled between the classroom and applied practice, as team members learned to stop catastrophic bleeding with tourniquets, handle blocked airways, and bandage breaks and other wounds. After being quizzed on a framework for prioritized trauma care, our team was tested in a casualty scenario that called for calm and measured treatment after a member was struck by a landmine. Field team leaders received further instruction in recognizing types and mechanisms of injury. All InSight Crime investigators must pass these tests to do field work.


** Our Trending Topics
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EUROPE CRIME ([link removed])
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HUMAN SMUGGLING ([link removed])
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