This week, InSight Crime launches a three-part investigation looking at how local kingpins, corrupt politicians, and international traffickers turned the Dominican Republic into a major cocaine hub. We also look at how Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” will weather a direct challenge, after an attack by an unknown armed group killed seven police officers. In Brazil, we look at how the country's biggest gang, the PCC, may be moving into the marijuana business in Paraguay, and how one small Brazilian town became a destination for smuggled textiles, gasoline, weapons, and more.
Today, 1 p.m. EST: A reminder that InSight Crime and American University will hold an in-person/virtual conference to discuss the findings of our joint investigation on IUU fishing. Register to attend the live event or catch the livestream.
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The Dominican Republic prides itself on its openness to the world. As one of the first countries to open up during the COVID-19 pandemic, it seeks to be ever welcoming to tourism and business.
But criminals may feel welcome as well.
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With less than a month in office, Colombia's President Gustavo Petro is facing the first test of his security policy as the country's criminal groups watch his reaction to the murders of seven police officers.
A group of eight police officers were attacked with explosives and rifle fire on September 2 as they traveled along a rural road in Neiva, a municipality in the southern department of Huila. Seven officers were killed, according to a press release from Colombia's Ministry of Defense. The identity of the assailants remains unknown.
Read the analysis >
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There is no single factor to blame for Rio de Janeiro's seemingly endless security crisis. But among constant battles between gangs and security...
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Brazilian police have cracked down hard on contraband flowing into the country across the Friendship Bridge from Paraguay. But do such...
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Textiles, gasoline, drugs, weapons, even people - how did the Brazilian town of Corumbá, nestled close to the border with Bolivia...
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Is Brazil's largest gang, the PCC, expanding into the marijuana cultivation business in Paraguay? Despite this suggestion being made...
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Impact on the Media Landscape
InSight Crime’s first investigation on the Dominican Republic made an immediate impact on the Dominican media landscape, with major news outlets republishing and reprinting our findings, including in El Día, Acento, Diario Libre, and Hoy.
Meanwhile, our global history of cocaine trafficking has also been shared by media outlets and organizations across the region, including SinEmbargo MX, La Lista, and the Association of Retired Officers of the Military Forces of Colombia (ACORE).
Read more about one of the world’s biggest illicit economies, based on a product that was once legal >
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Profiles of some of the notable criminal personalities and groups that have marked this week.
Browse by country > |
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The ex-FARC Mafia are a series of criminal structures that emerged during the peace negotiations between the ...
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The National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional - ELN) is one of the two main guerrilla armies with...
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"According to a joint investigation by La Prensa Gráfica and InSight Crime, one of the [MS13] gangsters, whose nom de guerre is Crook of Hollywood, walked out of [El Salvador’s] most secure prison during a crime wave last November"
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