Audio | InSight Crime

The United States has designated Ecuador's Chone Killers a terrorist organization, but the group has splintered and has no single command structure. InSight Crime's Gavin Voss, Steve Dudley and Deborah Bonello discuss how the label may not map cleanly onto a fragmented reality, echoing a broader pattern where decapitating gang leadership tends to atomize groups rather than dismantle them.

El Salvador’s mass trials of alleged gang members are the latest phase in President Nayib Bukele’s hardline security model, aimed at locking in the dismantling of MS13 and Barrio 18 while processing a massive backlog of cases. InSight Crime's Managing Editor Deborah Bonello and Central America Investigator Alex Papadovassilakis discuss how the trials, which group hundreds of defendants and tho...

The winner of Colombia's presidential elections Abelardo de la Espriella promised to stop negotiating with guerrilla armies and unleash the country's experienced security forces against criminal groups there. But will the Trump-aligned president-elect keep his promises when he takes office in August? And will his plan help, or hinder, the country's organized crime panorama?

InSight Crime's Co-Director Steven Dudley and Managing Editor Deborah Bonello separate fact from fiction around the real security risks in Mexico for tourists coming to the World Cup, and look back at the connection between organized crime and soccer.

The designation of two of Brazil's biggest criminal groups, the PCC and the Red Command, as foreign terrorist organizations by the United States promises to impact businesses, financial institutions, and the economy more widely, as much as the gangs themselves. In today's InSight Take, Managing Editor Deborah Bonello and co-director Steven Dudley take a deep dive into both of these crimina...

Durante años, el gobierno venezolano ha mantenido una relación simbiótica con ciertos grupos criminales del país, colaborando con ellos para mantenerse en el poder y beneficiarse de actividades ilícitas. Pero a medida que Estados Unidos ha intensificado sus acciones contra el crimen en América Latina bajo la presidencia de Donald Trump, el gobierno venezolano se ha encontrado entre la espada y la...

For years, the Venezuelan government has had a symbiotic relationship with certain criminal groups in the country, working together to maintain power and profit from illicit activities. But as the United States has taken increasingly aggressive anti-crime action in Latin America under President Donald Trump, the Venezuelan government has found itself between a rock and a hard place. Venezuela Says...

Gang violence and crime has surged to unprecedented levels in Ecuador in recent years. Groups like the Lobos, the Choneros, and the Tiguerones fight for alliances with international drug trafficking groups and control over strategic territories. In the areas they control, these groups reign through violence, threatening and extorting residents. In response, President Daniel Noboa has taken a hard...

La violencia de las pandillas y el crimen han aumentado a niveles sin precedentes en Ecuador en los últimos años. Grupos como Los Lobos, Los Choneros y Los Tiguerones luchan por alianzas con grupos internacionales de narcotráfico y por el control de territorios estratégicos. En las zonas que controlan, estos grupos imponen su poder mediante la violencia, amenazando y extorsionando a los residentes...

Colombia is poised for a shift in leadership as its first round of presidential elections approaches on May 31. And as President Gustavo Petro's term draws to a close, so too does his ambitious Total Peace initiative, which attempted to engage and negotiate with many criminal groups across the country. Over the past four years, InSight Crime has extensively reported on the plan’s successes, se...

Colombia está a punto de vivir un cambio de liderazgo con la proximidad de la primera vuelta de las elecciones presidenciales, que se celebrará el 31 de mayo. Y a medida que el mandato del presidente Gustavo Petro llega a su fin, también lo hace su ambiciosa iniciativa de Paz Total, que intentó involucrar y negociar con numerosos grupos criminales en todo el país. Durante los últimos cuatro años,...

Este año ha estado marcado por la captura de varios presuntos capos criminales en América Latina: un líder de alto rango de la banda ecuatoriana Los Lobos, uno de los clanes delictivos del Cartel de Sinaloa en México, e incluso el expresidente de Venezuela, quien enfrenta cargos en Estados Unidos, por mencionar algunos. En México, el poderoso Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) ha sido golpeado...

This year has seen the capture of many alleged crime bosses around Latin America: a top leader of Ecuador’s Los Lobos gang, one of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel crime families, and the former president of Venezuela, who faces charges in the United States, to name a few. In Mexico, the formidable Jalisco Cartel New Generation has been hit particularly hard in the past few months. First, there was the dea...

En la última Historia narrada, analizamos el impacto de los ataques militares estadounidenses sobre el tráfico de drogas en el Caribe y cómo los grupos criminales se han adaptado al aumento de la presión. Esta semana, hemos elaborado una guía visual para mostrar cómo se ha movido históricamente la cocaína por el Caribe y cómo ciertas rutas pueden haberse visto afectadas por los ataques contra emba...

In the last Narrated Story, we looked at the impact of US military strikes on drug trafficking in the Caribbean, and how criminal groups have adapted to increased pressure. This week, we’ve put together a visual explainer to show how cocaine has historically moved through the Caribbean, and how certain routes may have been impacted by the stikes on suspected drug boats. Why Cocaine Keeps Flowing T...

On September 2, 2025, the US administration of Donald Trump launched a military campaign aimed at dismantling drug trafficking in the Caribbean. A deadly attack on a vessel and its 11 crew members was the first of many operations that defied international norms and the rule of law. What has been the result? InSight Crime has closely tracked the evolution of drug trafficking in the region, finding...

El 2 de septiembre de 2025, la administración estadounidense de Donald Trump lanzó una campaña militar destinada a desmantelar el narcotráfico en el Caribe. Un ataque mortal contra una embarcación y sus 11 tripulantes fue la primera de muchas operaciones que desafiaron las normas internacionales y el estado de derecho. ¿Cuál ha sido el resultado? InSight Crime ha seguido de cerca la evolución del...

En la Historia Narrada de esta semana, traemos una historia de éxito: cómo el centro del narcotráfico brasileño, el Puerto de Santos, ha logrado frenar el paso de drogas por sus aguas, con incautaciones que han caído un 75% en los últimos seis años. Nuestros investigadores reportaron esta historia desde el Puerto de Santos, y este episodio especial incluye videos y fotografías del terreno, además...

In this week’s Narrated Story, we bring you a success story: how the Brazilian drug trafficking hub Port of Santos has cracked down on drugs moving through its waters, with seizures falling 75% over the last six years. Our investigators reported this story from the Port of Santos, and this special episode features videos and photos from the field plus detailed infographics and archival footage. Is...

In February 2026, the city of Rosario, Argentina — which is the epicenter of lethal violence in the country, with a homicide rate more than double the national average — witnessed a dramatic drop in homicides, thanks to a new security model. But beneath the surface of this success lies a brewing crisis: the pressure on local police officers. Can Rosario’s police force hold steady, or will burnout...

En febrero de 2026, la ciudad de Rosario, Argentina —epicentro de la violencia letal en el país, con una tasa de homicidios de más del doble que la media nacional— experimentó una drástica caída en los homicidios, gracias a un nuevo modelo de seguridad. Pero debajo de la superficie de este éxito se esconde una crisis latente: la presión sobre los oficiales de policía locales. ¿Podrá la fuerza poli...

*The latest article on Marset mentioned in this week’s story is already out. Read it here: The Corruption Engine Behind Sebastián Marset’s _ Sebastián Marset was a major mover and a shaker in the international cocaine trade. The Uruguayan drug trafficker was captured on March 13 in eastern Bolivia after years on the run. He is accused of being a key broker in global drug trafficking networks, with...

*El próximo artículo sobre Marset mencionado en el episodio ya salió. Lealo aquí: La maquinaria de corrupción detrás del imperio de Sebastián Marset __ Sebastián Marset fue un actor clave en el comercio internacional de cocaína. El narcotraficante uruguayo fue capturado el 13 de marzo en el oriente de Bolivia, tras años prófugo. Marset está acusado de ser un intermediario clave en redes globales d...

The fentanyl crisis has ravaged the United States, with overdoses causing the deaths of more than 160,000 deaths, between 2020 and 2023. But, 2024 marked a possible turning point, with overdose deaths falling by nearly 27 percent—the largest single-year decline on record. Meanwhile, in Mexico, fentanyl has quietly reshaped drug markets and upended some widely held assumptions of how larger crimina...

La crisis de sobredosis por fentanilo ha devastado a Estados Unidos, con más de 160.000 muertes entre 2020 y 2023. Pero 2024 marcó un posible punto de inflexión, con una caída de casi el 27% en las muertes por sobredosis — la mayor disminución anual registrada. Mientras tanto, en México, el fentanilo ha transformado silenciosamente los mercados de drogas y ha desafiado algunas suposiciones ampliam...