This week, InSight Crime teams up with the Igarapé Institute to uncover environmental crimes across five countries: Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia ... 

Weekly InSight
November 11, 2022 ([link removed])

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This week, InSight Crime teams up with the Igarapé Institute to uncover environmental crimes across five countries: Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Guyana, and Suriname. This investigation ([link removed]) maps out the actors involved, from the labor force felling trees and digging up gold, to those responsible for land trafficking and agribusiness schemes, and finally to the brokers and corrupt officials that legalize the pillaged goods.

We also investigate how fentanyl has become an unseen killer ([link removed]) in Mexico. The growing consumption of this incredibly potent synthetic drug in cities along trafficking routes, like Mexicali, in Baja California, has become a public health emergency.

And in Ecuador, we look at the transfer of gang members in prisons as the trigger for extreme violence ([link removed]) , and then we turn our focus to Argentina, where the country’s most violent city, Rosario, is on track to beat a homicide record ([link removed]) set a decade ago. Meanwhile, a series of arrests has highlighted the increasingly popular role of messaging service, Telegram ([link removed]) ,
among Argentina’s street-level drug dealers.


** Latest Investigation
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** Stolen Amazon: The Roots of Environmental Crime in Five Countries ([link removed])
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Environmental crime respects no borders. This investigation – conducted with Igarapé Institute – reveals how wildlife trafficking, illegal logging, illicit gold mining, and slash-and-burn land clearance are spreading across five Amazonian countries: Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Guyana, and Suriname.

These countries account for some 20 percent of the Amazon Basin and have collectively lost 10 million hectares of forest over the last two decades -- an area the size of Portugal.
Read the investigation chapters here:

1. Amazon Rainforest Under Attack From All Sides ([link removed])
2. Fueling Forest Loss: Motors of Deforestation in the Amazon ([link removed])
3. Beneath The Surface of Illegal Gold Mining in the Amazon ([link removed])
4. Wildlife Trafficking Preys on the Amazon Basin ([link removed])
5. Corruption: The Common Source of Environmental Crime in the Amazon ([link removed])
6. Legal Frameworks to Protect the Amazon Are Being Sorely Tested ([link removed])
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** Featured
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** Fentanyl Has Become A Hidden Killer in Mexico ([link removed])
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A deep smell of decomposition is evident through the doors of the Forensic Medical Service (Servicio Médico Forense - SEMEFO) in Mexicali, Baja California. Despite the fans whirling at full power in the waiting room, the smell permeates clothes and skin. In this city, where temperatures can reach over 50 degrees Celsius, refrigeration cannot contain the stench of bodies in the morgue.

SEMEFO's Mexicali headquarters is a large, white, modern building. It is surrounded by funeral parlors waiting to sell their services to people leaving SEMEFO needing to bury their dead. Inside are a waiting room and administrative offices, where César Raúl Vaca, the director, greets us.

Read the analysis > ([link removed])


** NewsAnalysis
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All News ([link removed]) >
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** Why Are Murders Spreading Across Argentina's Most Violent City? ([link removed])
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The city of Rosario, Argentina, is on track to beat its homicide record ...

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** Telegram Becoming Drug Dealing Marketplace of Choice in Argentina ([link removed])
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A series of arrests of drug dealers in Argentina has highlighted the increasingly popular role of Telegram...

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** Transfers of Gang Leaders Focus Points for Ecuador’s Prison Violence ([link removed])
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With Ecuador having suffered yet another round of attacks against the government's default strategy of ...


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


** Using Data to Expose Crime
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Co-director Jeremy McDermott made a virtual presentation at a conference hosted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The ‘Sixth International Conference on Governance, Crime, and Justice Statistics’ was held in Seoul, South Korea from November 9-11. McDermott was a panelist on a session entitled “Crime, research, and investigative journalism.” He spoke about how InSight Crime collects and uses data in its daily news production and investigative work.

“Access to solid data is not only the best tool to expose crime and corruption, but our best protection against those who would seek to silence us,” McDermott stated.

McDermott was also interviewed for podcast The Index, created by the Global Initiative Crime Index, where he spoke about Venezuela and the involvement of state-embedded actors in illicit activities. Listen here ([link removed]) .

Read our investigation on Venezuela’s drug trafficking trade > ([link removed])

Managing Editor Chris Dalby also participated in an interview with television program Efecto Naim, which airs on NTN24, about links between criminals and video games. Watch the interview here ([link removed]) .

Read how Mexican cartels recruit youths through video games > ([link removed])

On the Mexico front, InSight Crime Investigator Victoria Dittmar took part in an interview with the Instituto Mexicano de Radio about the environmental impacts of methamphetamine production in Mexico.

Read our coverage of the environmental impacts of synthetic drugs here > ([link removed])


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

Browse by country > ([link removed])
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** Lobos ([link removed])
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The Lobos have emerged as Ecuador's second-largest mega-gang, with over 8,000 members spread throughout ...
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** Monos ([link removed])
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The criminal group known as the Monos, led by members of the Cantero family, has been operating for more than 20 years ...


** Media Mentions
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About Us ([link removed])
NOVEMBER 9, 2022
THE NEW HUMANITARIAN ([link removed])

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"[The ELN] also maintains a strong presence in Venezuela’s Orinoco region, where it runs illegal gold mining operations … according to InSight Crime, a watchdog that studies criminality in the region..."
Read the cited investigation > ([link removed])


** Our Trending Topics
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ECUADOR ([link removed])
ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME ([link removed])
SYNTHETIC DRUGS ([link removed])
ARGENTINA ([link removed])

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We go into the field to interview, report and investigate. We then verify, write and edit, providing the tools to generate real impact in fighting organized crime.
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