The InSight Take: US Drug Certification: Law Enforcement or Politics?
Why did the United States remove Venezuela from its drug blacklist while Colombia and Bolivia remain on it? In this…
Trafficking of Contraband Weight Loss Drugs From Paraguay to Brazil Spikes
Weight loss and diabetes medications are now one of the most smuggled contraband products in Brazil. Pharmaceuticals produced in neighboring…
The InSight Take: Organized Crime in Brazil’s Elections
With Brazil’s presidential election just weeks away, public security has become a defining campaign issue. In this week’s InSight Take,…
How AI Supported Research on Tren de Aragua in Brazil
There has been evidence of Tren de Aragua operating in Brazil since at least 2018, with the Venezuelan gang making…
Who’s Who in Brazil’s Historic Bank Master Fraud Case?
Brazil’s Bank Master collapsed in November 2025 when the Central Bank liquidated it over serious regulatory violations. The president of…
A Timeline of Brazil’s Bank Master Scandal
The collapse of Bank Master, and the ensuing investigation into the private bank are slowly revealing a criminal organization hiding…
Cheap Drones Are A Costly Problem For Governments in Latin America
Mexico and the United States recently agreed to deepen security cooperation around counter-drone technology, as governments across Latin America race…
The InSight Take: Organized Crime Adopts the Latest Technologies in the Drone-IED Arms Race
Organized crime groups across Latin America are weaponizing commercial drones, pairing them with IEDs to attack rivals, security forces, and…
On the Radar: Cartel Coalition’s Gaps and a CJNG Weapons Bust
What can Washington’s new “cartel coalition” deliver? What does the arrest of CJNG operators in Europe say about the group’s…
Red Command (Comando Vermelho)
The Red Command (Comando Vermelho – CV) is Brazil’s oldest criminal group. Created in a Rio de Janeiro prison in…