Weekly InSight
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. 

Corruption at Every Stage: Legal Actors Meet Criminal Networks

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 >

The last chapter will be published next Wednesday.

Featured

Enduring Italians, Ambitious Albanians – How Cocaine is Changing Europe’s Criminal Landscape

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 >

NewsAnalysis

Top El Salvador Officials Embroiled in Food Aid Theft Investigation


A scrapped investigation into alleged food aid theft by officials in the administration of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has... 

Bomb Threats: Mexico's Crime Groups Turn to Explosives


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
The Increasingly Busy Cuba-Uruguay Human Smuggling Route
States of Emergency in Belize - Cure or Addiction?
Aircraft Theft Across Latin America Continues to Fuel Drug Trade
Venezuela Kidnappers Posing as Car Sellers to Lure Victims
Jalisco Cartel Sets Off Alarm Bells Along Mexico-Guatemala Border

Criminal Actors

Profiles of some of the notable criminal personalities and groups that have marked this week.

Browse by country >

CJNG

The Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación - CJNG) is a criminal group that has evolved as a...

Atlantic Cartel

The Atlantic Cartel is a Honduran drug trafficking organization reportedly led by Wilter Neptalí...

Media Mentions

SEPTEMBER 18, 2021
BREAKING BELIZE NEWS



 
"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."

Impact

Emergency First Aid in Hostile Environments

 
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 

EUROPE CRIME
CJNG
HUMAN SMUGGLING
ELITES AND OC
Facebook InSight Crime
Twitter InSight Crime
LinkedIn InSight Crime
 


InSight Crime is sponsored by:

American University
Open Society Foundations
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

Copyright © 2021 InSight Crime, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you have signed up to receive InSight Crime's top weekly content.
unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences 






This email was sent to [email protected]
why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences
InSight Crime · Medellin · Medellin 0000 · Colombia