State Inertia and Organized Crime Limit Colombia’s Coca Substitution Program
Changes in the leadership of Colombia’s illicit crop substitution program and problems in its implementation raise questions about how organized…
In Battle to Slow Precursor Chemicals in Mexico, Public-Private Partnerships are a Path Not Taken
It was days before Super Bowl LVI in February 2022, the biggest guacamole day of the year in the United…
How Do Mexico’s Presidential Candidates Plan to Tackle Organized Crime?
Mexico’s presidential candidates are proposing mostly ambiguous security measures that fail to address the complexity of organized crime in the…
Central America Drug Flights Fall as Traffickers Shift Methods
Aerial cocaine interdictions have fallen sharply in Central America in the last three years, suggesting that drug traffickers are shifting…
DEA’s Emphasis on Defeating Cartels Oversimplifies Fentanyl Industry
The Drug Enforcement Administration’s “National Drug Threat Assessment 2024” presents Mexican cartels as the hegemonic force behind the United States’…
InSight Crime’s 2023 Cocaine Seizure Round-Up
Record cocaine production and high demand for the drug contributed to criminal violence across Latin America and the Caribbean in…
Beyond China: How Other Countries Provide Precursor Chemicals to Mexico
On September 21, 2021, Javier Algredo Vázquez was on his way to a US law enforcement office to reclaim chemical…
How Haiti’s ‘Aid State’ Has Fueled Organized Crime
As Haiti continues to make headlines amid struggles to control crime and insecurity, a new book traces the roots of…
ELN, Ex-FARC Mafia Drive Rising Cocaine Production in Zulia, Venezuela
A series of large-scale drug seizures at clandestine laboratories in a Venezuelan border state suggest the ELN and ex-FARC mafia…
Brokers: Lynchpins of the Precursor Chemical Flow to Mexico
When Ana Gabriela Rubio Zea contacted her chemical suppliers in China on behalf of a new client, she needed to…