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 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 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, and then we turn our focus to Argentina, where the country’s most violent city, Rosario, is on track to beat a homicide record set a decade ago. Meanwhile, a series of arrests has highlighted the increasingly popular role of messaging service, Telegram, among Argentina’s street-level drug dealers.
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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.
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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 >
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The city of Rosario, Argentina, is on track to beat its homicide record ...
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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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With Ecuador having suffered yet another round of attacks against the government's default strategy of ...
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Using Data to Expose Crime
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.
Read our investigation on Venezuela’s drug trafficking trade >
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.
Read how Mexican cartels recruit youths through video games >
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 >
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Profiles of some of the notable criminal personalities and groups that have marked this week.
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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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The criminal group known as the Monos, led by members of the Cantero family, has been operating for more than 20 years ...
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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..."
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