Weekly InSight
This week, InSight Crime takes a look at Guatemala’s historic conviction of former President Otto Pérez Molina and former Vice President Roxana Baldetti for their part in a vast corruption scheme. The pair both received 16 years in prison, but the assault against the country’s justice system by those now in power raises the question of how long the ruling will stick.

We also explain what falling marijuana seizures along certain parts of the US-Mexico border can tell us about how legalization has forced marijuana trafficking to evolve, while in Argentina, we reveal what the sentencing of a former drug trafficking kingpin tells us about the network of corruption in the country.

Featured

Historic Judgement Shows How Guatemala Is Still Fighting Its Past

With a historic ruling to convict the former president and vice president -- and an incredible off-script riff -- three Guatemala judges illustrated why the most emblematic case of the country’s effort to reform its justice system over the past decade is still dividing Guatemala.

On December 7, the judges ruled to convict former president Otto Pérez Molina and former vice president Roxana Baldetti of fraud and “illicit association” and sentenced them to 16 years each in prison. Pérez Molina and Baldetti were absolved of illicit enrichment, and several others in the case were acquitted of all criminal charges. Both face other charges in Guatemala, and Baldetti faces drug trafficking charges in the United States.

Read the investigation here >

NewsAnalysis

With Legalization, Marijuana Trafficking Routes Evolve Along US-Mexico Border


The ongoing legalization of marijuana at the state level in the United States has forced organized... 

Murders of Colombia's Social Leaders at Six-Year High Despite Peace Talks


Killings of social leaders in Colombia have reached a six-year high, suggesting violence in the country's most troubled regions has been...
How Did the Castedo Clan Run the Drug Trade in Northern Argentina?
Panama Became Logistics Hub for Drug Trafficking 'Super Cartel'

Coming Soon

InSight Crime Launches GameChangers 2022

 
Next week, InSight Crime will launch its 2022 GameChangers series. In this series, we review and analyze the major changes to criminal dynamics across Latin America this year, look forward to the likely trends emerging next year, and take an in-depth look at the criminal actors that have left their marks most clearly on 2022.

Impact

InSight Crime Shares Expertise with US State Department

 
Last week, InSight Crime Co-founder Steven Dudley took part in the International Anti-Corruption Conference organized by the US State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, & Labor. Dudley offered his insights from decades of work as a journalist and academic, and shared the work of InSight Crime with conference attendees.

And InSight Crime Investigator Victoria Dittmar was interviewed by the Mexican outlet El Financiero/Bloomberg to talk about the impact of marijuana legalization in the United States, following the publication of our report, “The End of (Illegal) Marijuana: What It Means for Criminal Dynamics in Mexico” last week. Watch the interview here. 
 

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

Browse by country >

Lobos

The Lobos have emerged as Ecuador's second-largest mega-gang, with over...

Chapitos

The now-jailed former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquín Guzmán Loera...

Media Mentions
DEC 8, 2022
DIÁLOGO AMÉRICAS

Diálogo Americas
"InSight Crime, an organization that studies organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean, places the number of illegal firearms in Haiti to be between 270,000 and 500,000 according to varying sources."

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InSight Crime · Medellin · Medellin 0000 · Colombia