15 years of research and analysis on organized crime and corruption in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Medellín, Colombia / Washington, DC
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#NewInvestigation | Operation Zaraza: Airstrikes, Abuses, and a Criminal Revolt in Chavista Venezuela bit.ly/4epIbWr
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#NewInvestigation | ‘Operation Polanco’: How the DEA Investigated #AMLO’s 2006-Presidential Campaign bit.ly/47WW9K9
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#Cocaine | Turkey, with a foot in both Europe and Asia, has become an essential hub for cocaine being trafficked from Latin America to emerging cocaine markets.
Find out how: bit.ly/40BU0Af
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#Cocaine | With most cocaine leaving Ecuador by ocean, corrupting navy soldiers has become highly useful for drug traffickers.
⬇️ bit.ly/3wwXJC5
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🇬🇹 | Guatemala's top prosecutor, Consuelo Porras, is sanctioned for corruption by 42 countries. She has subverted anti-graft efforts by gutting the Attorney General's Office of competent prosecutors while using corruption claims to hound President #Arévalo bit.ly/4jj953F
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🇲🇽 | Mexico will be the first country in the world to elect all of its judges by popular vote. Experts warned that the new system could politicize judges and undermine their legitimacy, which will not improve accountability in organized crime-related prosecutions. bit.ly/3FABVxz
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The number of current or former Latin American presidents under investigation, or condemned, on charges of corruption is staggering (just see the illustration below).
bit.ly/2M3TbuU
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#Exclusive: Narco Video Shows Traffickers Discussing Bribes With Honduras President’s Brother-in-Law. bit.ly/3MxmZjJ
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An estimated 160,000 chemical companies are currently operating either legally or illegally in China, and amid poor industrial regulation, the country has become the main exporter of fentanyl.
bit.ly/2Esgg7y
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When it comes to links between organized crime and Honduras’ National Party, Tony Hernández is the most recognizable figure. Our latest investigation, however, reveals organized crimes tentacles reached well beyond the president’s brother.
bit.ly/3bf5jGo
#BorderCrime
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Colombia’s Vice President Marta Lucía Ramírez has announced that she will be withdrawing the criminal complaint filed against InSight Crime Co-director Jeremy McDermott related to a two-year investigation into #MemoFantasma.
#PressFreedom
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#ElitesAndCrime | In Guatemala, corrupt elites are doing their utmost to derail the presidential elections that delivered shocking results in the first round. bit.ly/43qejBC
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🇭🇳 | Honduran President Xiomara Castro announced a plan to cancel #Honduras' extradition agreement with the United States just days before a video published by InSight Crime showed her brother-in-law Carlos Zelaya negotiating bribes with drug traffickers. bit.ly/3XxeTy0
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Last week, Cash Luna, one of Guatemala's leading evangelical pastors, lambasted a jailed journalist who once reported on his alleged money laundering ties 🧵👇
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The Albanian mafia reportedly left death threats for Ecuadorian legislator, Viviana Veloz, and her team after they investigated corruption networks within Ecuador’s public companies.
In today’s #CriminalThreads, we analyze the presence of the Albanian mafia in Ecuador. 🧵👇
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3 years of investigation
123 files with evidence
These are the 30 military and officials of the Maduro government involved in drug trafficking
bit.ly/2IwlkrR
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🇭🇳 | Two weeks after the release of the 2013 video by InSight Crime that showed the Honduran president's brother-in-law negotiating with drug traffickers, government officials have ramped up claims that the media is complicit in a coup plot. bit.ly/47D8PHt
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🇬🇹 | Guatemala’s Public Prosecutor’s Office continues to frustrate Arévalo’s anti-corruption agenda. Earlier this year, we examined how a right-wing legal group used lawfare to help prosecutors target judges and officials fighting graft. bit.ly/49rs1aM
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🇭🇳 | In Honduras, a leaked video showed drug traffickers negotiating bribes with President Xiomara Castro's brother-in-law. The article rattled Honduras and was InSight Crime's most-read story of 2024. bit.ly/3VQPSMZ
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Authorities have confirmed to InSight Crime that they have arrested Guillermo León Acevedo, "Memo Fantasma," and he is being charged with money laundering, illicit enrichment, and criminal conspiracy. Three other people were arrested, including two unidentified family members.
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🇵🇾 | The trial of Paraguayan senator Erico Galeano, suspected of having link with international drug traffickers, has begun. Prosecutors accuse Galeano of lending his plane to Sebastián Marset's criminal network and laundering money. bit.ly/3TrEm8Y
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#ElitesAndCrime | A report by Paraguay's Congress connects former president Horacio Cartes to illicit tobacco trafficking, money laundering, drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, tax evasion, and bribery.
Is Cartes losing his aura of impunity? bit.ly/3Uftc5s
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Don’t miss out on “Drug Lords: The Next Generation,” a @NatGeo series launching in the US today.
@jerrymcdermott explains the @InSightCrime investigation into #MemoFantasma, the invisible drug trafficker hiding out as a property developer in Spain.
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Venezuela now has its own Sinaloa: Mexican narcos have flooded the streets of San Felipe, a town in Zulia state, with Mexican narcoCulture.
bit.ly/3bN3Fuo
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#InSightFiles2022 | Deforestation is rampant along the Orinoco River in Venezuela’s southern Amazon, where 80 percent of the country's tropical forests are concentrated. bit.ly/3zXtuGM
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#Elecciones2023 | The Vamos political bloc is the most powerful in Guatemala. During the presidency of Alejandro Giammattei, Vamos has consolidated power across the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
Find out more 👉 bit.ly/46kwGuk
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🇭🇳 | Honduras has made its last extradition to the United States after the president announced the end of the treaty between the two countries. The measure is seen by many as an attempt to protect the country's corrupt political elites. bit.ly/3XxeTy0
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In an unusual twist, China’s shutdown due to the coronavirus has left Mexican cartels high and dry without contraband goods.
bit.ly/2wiK7Pq
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🇭🇳 A video obtained by InSight Crime shows Honduran drug traffickers discussing bribes with a member of the presidential family. The damning new material highlights the seriousness of narco-corruption in the country. Join our Facebook live broadcast today at 9 p.m. #Honduras time.
📎 bit.ly/3AYXpkV
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#Cocaine | Ecuador’s port of Guayaquil is by far the country’s main cocaine gateway. But gangs are fighting to control a slew of other exit points along the coast.
👉 bit.ly/3wwXJC5
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A video of the brother-in-law of President Xiomara Castro in a meeting with drug traffickers in 2013 raised questions, again, about the relationship between politics and organized crime. What implications does this have for anti-narcotics cooperation with the US? bit.ly/4gXdCaf
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🌍 The cocaine pipeline to Europe just got shaken up: A high-ranking Camorra member has been arrested in Medellín, Colombia, revealing how deep organized crime networks spread around the globe. Explore the cocaine supply chain and Europe’s booming market. bit.ly/3Yn4CU6
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Alleged Albanian drug trafficker Dritan Gjika has been arrested in the United Arab Emirates. Authorities say Gjika moved 9.5 tons of cocaine from Colombia through Ecuador to Europe. Read about his rise: bit.ly/3zCE1cO
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#GameChangers | Hundreds of vessels from China are present in and around Latin American waters year-round. This map presents where they go at different seasons to zero in on different prized species. bit.ly/329GYBC
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The next chapter in El Salvador’s security policy will be led by an official with alleged connections to individuals accused or convicted of embezzlement, money laundering and bribery.
bit.ly/3dINQrp
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While Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez continues to make headlines for allegedly received money from traffickers for election campaigns, his sister first came under scrutiny for accepting drug money.
bit.ly/3bf5jGo
#BorderCrime
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🇪🇨 | The Ecuadorian coastal provinces of Guayas, Santa Elena, and Los Ríos recorded massacres over the weekend in a surge of violence. While massacres have been concentrated in the coast in recent years, they are increasingly being recorded elsewhere as well: bit.ly/494VCdd
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🇵🇾 | With no answers about who ordered the murder of Paraguayan prosector Marcelo Pecci two years ago, his family’s lawyer is considering going to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Read our analysis here. bit.ly/4fGSipu
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🌍 | Spanish and Turkish authorities seized 1.7 tons of cocaine after tracking a container shipped from South America. The cocaine was destined for Barcelona, via the port of Istanbul. Our previous analysis explores Turkey’s role as a cocaine transport hub. bit.ly/3zislMG
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🇭🇳 | The decision to end extradition by Honduras President Xiomara Castro will have far-reaching impacts on the ability of her country and the United States to hold powerful organized crime to account. bit.ly/3XxeTy0
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3 years of investigation
123 files with evidence
These are the 30 military and officials of the Maduro government involved in drug trafficking
bit.ly/2IwlkrR
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Colombia’s Vice President Marta Lucía Ramírez has filed a criminal defamation suit against InSight Crime Co-director Jeremy McDermott in connection to the two-year investigation of #MemoFantasma.
@pressfreedom has condemned the lawsuit.
bit.ly/2DbU30c
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Dominican Republic's Former Anti-Drug Chief Sentenced to 20 Years for Stealing a Ton of Cocaine ow.ly/fyLN304tgHc
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🇻🇪 I When Hugo Chavez assumed the presidency, he armed civilians and formed a sort of para-state militia he named “colectivos.” These armed groups, which were inherited by his successor Nicolás Maduro, have been used to repress the opposition. bit.ly/3WNSmN0
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The US Justice Department has accused the President of Honduras of accepting drug money during his presidential campaign. Starting tomorrow we will dedicate a weekly four-part series to this case and its potential consequences. #HondurasPoliticsAndDrugs
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🇪🇨 #EcuadorBajoAtaque| In its war on the fragmented but sophisticated gangs, the deck is stacked against Ecuador. Read our latest analysis to see what the country’s weak institutions and new president are up against. bit.ly/491VNCK
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🇨🇴 | Tren de Aragua has managed to consolidate and integrate into the criminal underworld of several Colombian cities. But in other cities, like Medellín, the presence of more powerful criminal groups has slowed its growth. Read more: bit.ly/3VlIB6W
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Ecuador’s Explosive War on Gangs Lacks Exit Strategy bit.ly/47w711p
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🇨🇴 🇮🇹 | Colombian security forces captured Italian mafia boss Emanuele Gregorini in the Caribbean city of Cartagena. Last year, InSight Crime interviewed crime expert Letizia Paoli to learn about European mafia groups in Latin America. bit.ly/48ZU5TF
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Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández is not just accused of accepting bribes from drug traffickers, but also ensuring the military, police and prosecutors would not disrupt their criminal activities, but rather safeguard them.
bit.ly/3qaOG4x
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🇪🇨 | #Purga is part of a vast set of investigations targeting Ecuador’s political elite. The unprecedented efforts led by Attorney General Diana Salazar could hit a wall with the upcoming presidential election and AG selection process: bit.ly/4hyKJB9
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🇭🇳 | Former president José Manuel #Zelaya described the resignation of his brother Carlos Zelaya from Congress last year as “selfless.” Carlos resigned after InSight Crime published a 2013 video that showed him negotiating with drug traffickers. bit.ly/3AORpeB
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#Colombia | Colombian media are reporting that Guillermo León Acevedo Giraldo, alias "Memo Fantasma," has been placed under arrest in Bogotá. InSight Crime first revealed Acevedo Giraldo, an elusive drug lord and paramilitary commander, to be living as a businessman in Madrid.
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#Guatemala | Crackdown on Guatemala Prosecutors Intensifies Amid Presidential Corruption Claims
bit.ly/3JIdt9U
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#BinationalGuerrillas | Drug trafficking, gold mining, contraband, extortion – and impunity. Setting up in Venezuela has granted the ELN access to a source of fabulous criminal wealth.
bit.ly/3LZAyr6
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#StolenAmazon | In 2021, Bolivia ranked third in the world among countries that recorded the highest levels of primary forest loss.
See how this country’s often-overlooked Amazon is being razed by settlers. bit.ly/3zXtuGM
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#Featured | Guatemala: An Election Enshrined in Impunity. rb.gy/2n2oy
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"Our investigation reveals the collusion and infiltration of organized crime in all levels of the Honduran state, from associates close to the president to powers at the local level."
@HsilvAvalos in #BorderCrime
bit.ly/3dktNRu
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Despite the evidence against them and the high monetary and human costs, the Colombian government insists on implementing an aggressive strategy of forced eradication of coca crops, reminiscent of the failed war on drugs.
bit.ly/2YIL78I
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Allegations of illicit campaign financing and links to organized crime groups have clouded Guatemalan politics for years now. Former President Álvaro Colom allegedly received critical financial support for his 2007 campaign from organized crime groups. (insightcrime.org/investigati…)
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#GameChangers #Cocaine | Coca cultivation and cocaine production are no longer the exclusive remit of Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. Honduras and Venezuela are now home to industrial-scale coca plantations. What could this mean for 2024’s cocaine markets? bit.ly/3v5zbCF
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InSight Crime's four-part series into the criminal links of Honduras' President Juan Orlando Hernández was our most read investigation of 2019:
bit.ly/2EK1SaN
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The daughter of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez allegedly used a secret bank account in the US for two years to make million-dollar purchases, adding to a long list of money-laundering accusations against the Chávez family.
bit.ly/2pIN3kx
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#ElSalvador @_elfaro_ obtained a scrapped Attorney General’s investigation that alleged El Salvador’s top prison official diverted food aid and then later sold it to a businessman previously accused of corruption. bit.ly/2W0rkVT
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🇭🇳 | Following a scandal that rocked the family of the Honduran president, Xiomara Castro said she 'condemned' negotiations between drug traffickers and politicians. She also accused her adversaries of using 'corporate media' to spread 'poison and lies.’ bit.ly/47D8PHt
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In Mexico, the fragmentation of large criminal organizations – due to internal conflicts, disputes and the arrests of key leaders – has resulted in a complex criminal panorama. In this #CriminalThread, we profile the new generation of criminal actors
👉bit.ly/3lY0d8E
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Ricardo Méndez Ruiz and the Art of Lawfare in Guatemala
bit.ly/487Oys8
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What do the MS13 and El Salvador’s Attorney General’s Office have in common? A high-level collaborator.
🔴 Read the full story by @_elfaro_ and InSight Crime at 10 a.m. El Salvador time.
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#Guatemala | With an estimated 17 Guatemalan judicial officials now in exile, few remain to continue the fight against impunity. bit.ly/3JIdt9U
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The top prosecutor in Colombia has confirmed what InSight Crime reported in a two-year investigation published earlier this year: Madrid-based businessman Guillermo León Acevedo Giraldo is the drug lord and paramilitary commander known as #MemoFantasma
bit.ly/2TGLmQY
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🇭🇹 | Haitian authorities used drones to kill over 100 gang members in 48 hours, according to a human rights group, though the gang leaders remain at large. Levels of violence in Haiti have surged in recent months, as our recent article explored. bit.ly/3E9tIiW
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#Colombia | Memo Fantasma to Walk, Thanks to Colombian Prosecutor
bit.ly/3yxLSFS
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The criminal behavior of Venezuela’s government, accusations of kleptocracy and delegation of powers to irregular and illegal actors are some of the reasons to consider it a mafia state bit.ly/2jZ9rjB
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El Salvador’s President Bukele Linked to Venezuelan Money Laundering Scheme: Report
bit.ly/2S6qAct
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#Guatemala | Plots Against President-Elect Marks Dark Turn in Guatemala's Bitter Election bit.ly/45haqRj
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@FiscaliaEcuador is investigating giant tortoise hunting on the Galápagos Islands. Nearly 90 tortoises were seized on a yacht bound for the port of Guayaquil in June.
In #CriminalThreads, we look at how tortoises and turtles have become lucrative for wildlife traffickers🧵👇
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🇲🇽 #Mexico | While locked in dispute for control of illicit economies in Chiapas, the CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel are attempting to co-opt public administrations to influence local politics ahead of June’s federal elections. Read more: bit.ly/3HSnHWp
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These were the five most violent countries in Latin America and the Caribbean during 2018:
🇻🇪 Venezuela
🇸🇻 El Salvador
🇯🇲 Jamaica
🇭🇳 Honduras
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
Read more in our homicide round-up:
bit.ly/2R4mwX2
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Caracas, in Venezuela; San Juan de Puerto Rico and Panama City are the top three most violent capitals in Latin America in the most recent InSight Crime report.
bit.ly/2PNzZov
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#InSightFiles | The Cachiros were one of Honduras’ most important criminal groups in the 2000s. The group sought to maintain relations with security forces and the judicial system. Read our investigation about the criminal group. bit.ly/3hS5XhA
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InSight Crime is thrilled to announce it will be honored with a special citation from the Maria Moors Cabot Prize for outstanding reporting on the Americas. It is an honor to be recognized with such a prestigious award for our work over the past 14 years. bit.ly/3zMRU8k
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Guatemala was almost a model for regional anti-corruption efforts, with a former president being jailed for corruption. But the country’s early successes have sputtered and died out. In this interview, prosecutor Juan Francisco Sandoval explains why.
bit.ly/3fx3aqb
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A two-year investigation published by InSight Crime first revealed Guillermo León Acevedo Giraldo to be "Memo Fantasma," an elusive drug lord and paramilitary leader. He is now under arrest, Colombian media is reporting.
Read the investigation 👉 bit.ly/32yo9EK
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#ElSalvador |Multiple sources in the US and El Salvador say the recent decision to temporarily halt the extradition of several top MS13 leaders to face US charges may be related to an ongoing, unofficial pact between the gang and the Salvadoran government.
bit.ly/3jvsQc1
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With a public accusation that he received drug proceeds for his political campaigns, US prosecutors seem to have drawn the same conclusion about Honduras President that many Hondurans have already come to: that their president is heading up a mafia state bit.ly/2KiSMWn
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News that judicial authorities are investigating former President Porfirio Lobo's dealings with the Cachiros drug group shows how important the international mission has become for Honduras to tackle corruption at the highest levels.
goo.gl/93kGPw
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#Mexico | Gunmen are raiding oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, ransacking them for valuable equipment and oil while holding their crews hostage. The surge in piracy has sparked calls for Mexico to provide more security. bit.ly/3rLYYKu
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#ElSalvador | El Salvador's Attorney General Worked For Top MS13 Ally
bit.ly/3zri4uj
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A bill proposed by eight US Senate Democrats to sanction Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández is the first political salvo to distance the United States from the president amid mounting accusations of ties drug traffickers.
bit.ly/3usOVen
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US federal prosecutors have charged Venezuela’s former Vice President Tareck El Aissami with violating the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.
Read our coverage of when El Aissami was first blacklisted by the US for drug trafficking: insightcrime.org/news/analys…
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InSight Crime celebrates 10 years of understanding organized crime in Latin America & the Caribbean. We’ve covered everything from the history of the largest gang in the region to the role of women in organized crime.
Celebrate with us November 18.
#10yearsInSightCrime
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