The Mafias Behind Sand Trafficking in Latin America
Just 50 miles from Rio de Janeiro’s world-famous beaches, one of the city’s most powerful gangsters found a fortune to…
Cocaine Surge Fuels Violence as Opium Falls: UN Drug Report 2024
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released its annual drug report, highlighting the manifold destruction caused by…
Vortex of Evil: Gangs and Narcos in Tapachula, Mexico
Sitting on a rock in a street on the outskirts of Tapachula, on Mexico’s southern border, Poison and Malandro share…
US Drug Overdose Deaths Are Dropping, and Here’s Why
When Dennis Cauchon started to notice a sharp drop in drug overdose deaths in the fall of 2023 in the…
Cheyo Anthrax’s Murder Highlights How Few Are Irreplaceable in Mexico’s Underworld
The recent killing of a key member of the Sinaloa Cartel may spell the end of one of its armed…
Mexico’s Extreme Election Violence Explained
Political candidates in criminally strategic states like Chiapas, Guerrero, and Michoacán saw an outburst of violence this election cycle in…
Data InSights: Latin America Smugglers Opt for Commercial Flights
Smugglers transporting illicit drugs, arms, and gold are increasingly using commercial and cargo flights to move shipments, according to data…
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…
Jalisco Cartel New Generation (CJNG)
The Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación – CJNG) is a transnational criminal group that emerged from the…