Weekly InSight
Amid a busy week for criminal dynamics in Colombia, InSight Crime considers the implications of the death of Gentil Duarte, the well-known former FARC commander. We provide a heads-up of criminal manipulations and threats connected to Colombia’s upcoming presidential elections, as well as a look at a series of gruesome murders in Bogotá. And woes continue to mount for Memo Fantasma as his wife, Catalina Mejía Acosta, faces similar charges of money laundering as her husband.  

Elsewhere, InSight Crime investigates rumblings of internal dissent within the mighty Jalisco Cartel, Haiti’s escalating gang warfare, and Venezuela’s growing reputation as a ransomware hub.

Featured

The Fall of Gentil Duarte – What Does
It Mean for Colombia?

For the last five years, Gentil Duarte has done his best to reunite dissident groups who refused to join the FARC’s demobilization into a united fighting force. Those attempts appear to have ended in early May in Venezuela.

After widespread reports in the Colombian press, the country’s Defense Minister Diego Molano stated on May 25 that Miguel Botache Santillana, alias “Gentil Duarte,” appears to have been killed on May 4 in Venezuela.

Read the analysis >

NewsAnalysis

Betrayals, In-Fighting, Mysteriously Vanished Leader - Is Jalisco Cartel on the Brink?


After a decade of lightning growth in membership and territory, the CJNG’s reign as Mexico’s most... 

How Colombia's Criminal Groups Are Preparing for Presidential Elections


Colombia has gone from a peaceful election in 2018 to a violent electoral process in 2022, with the increase in violence explained in part...
Bogotá's Microtrafficking Gangs Fuel Killings and Torture in Post-Pandemic Boom
Pedro Juan Caballero – The Descent into Madness of a Paraguay Border Town
Costa Rica's Limón Province Becomes Murder and Drug Trafficking Center
Ransomware Built in Venezuela Used to Target Institutions Across Latin America

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

Browse by country >

Gentil Duarte

Miguel Botache Santillana, better known as "Gentil Duarte," was one of Colombia's most wanted criminals...

El Mencho

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias "El Mencho," is the leader and founder of the Jalisco Cartel – New Generation (CJNG)...

Media Mentions
MAY 25, 2022
DALLAS OBSERVER
"The Gulf Cartel is one of Mexico's oldest and most powerful crime outfits, although it has faced competition and power struggles with competing cartel groups in recent years, according to the InSight Crime watchdog"

Impact

Cattle Trafficking Acclaim, Investigation
into Peru’s Amazon 

 
On May 18, InSight Crime launched its most recent investigation into cattle trafficking between Central America and Mexico. It showed precisely how beef, illicitly produced in Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, ends up on Mexican and US shelves, acts as a front for drug trafficking and leads to broad environmental destruction.

We are delighted at how well this investigation has been received. Numerous media republished it, including Sin Embargo, Pie de Página and Zona Docs in Mexico, as well as being extensively covered in Honduras. 

The investigation also made a splash in Germany, with national newspaper, Die Welt, and weekly news magazine, Stern, both covering it.
InSight Crime and the Igarapé Institute are proud to present a comprehensive investigation into the environmental crimes and criminal actors devastating Peru’s Amazon to be launched on June 2. 

Peru’s 70 million hectares of forest are being razed at an alarming rate. This investigation traces those behind the devastation: from illegal gold miners who leave behind pools of poisonous mercury, to poor locals coopted into harvesting valuable trees, to the complex web of front companies, corrupt officials and criminal groups that prosper from the Amazon’s destruction. 
 

Our Trending Topics 
JALISCO CARTEL
COLOMBIA
INVISIBLES
EX-FARC MAFIA
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InSight Crime · Medellin · Medellin 0000 · Colombia