GameChangers 2023: Top 5 Criminal Newsmakers
Five groups have stood out in InSight Crime’s coverage during 2023. We analyze why, and what they tell us about…
Why Have Ecuador’s Drug Trafficking Gangs Turned to Extortion?
The number of extortion cases recorded in Ecuador has skyrocketed over the past year, suggesting that the country’s fragmenting criminal…
4 Reasons Why Ecuador Is in a Security Crisis
The murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio is the culmination of an unprecedented spiral of violence unleashed by criminal groups…
The Rise and Fall of the Choneros, Ecuador’s Drug Trafficking Opportunists
Jorge Bismarck Véliz España was an ambitious man growing up in Puerto Arturo, a neighborhood in the larger town of…
Ecuador Gang Massacre Highlights Intensified Fight for Drug Routes
A massacre in Ecuador’s northern port city of Esmeraldas has underlined how competition over cocaine trafficking routes is contributing to…