Carnival, Samba, and Criminal Control in Rio de Janeiro
A few days after Carnival in Brazil in 2025, one of the country’s premier samba schools, Salgueiro, issued a blistering…
On the Radar: Football, Cocaine, and Corruption
How football fuels Paraguay’s drug trade, the latest extradition request from Mexico to the US, and what the latest cocaine…
Will the US Send Alleged Fuel Smugglers to Mexico?
The Mexican government has requested the extradition of several US citizens accused of colluding with organized crime groups to smuggle…
How Industrial-Scale Crypto Laundering Sustains Mexico’s Synthetic Drug Trade
On a hazy afternoon in May 2021, Daniel Gonzalez, alias “Rafael Arocho,” sped through Pasadena in a white Lexus packed…
Chinese Broker’s Arrest Hits Mexico’s Fentanyl Trade Harder Than ‘Kingpin’ Captures
After several months on the run, a Chinese citizen accused of leading a transnational drug trafficking network with ties to…
Will New Reform Help Mexico Address Money Laundering Challenges?
Reforms to Mexico’s anti-money laundering law earlier this year injected fresh hope and marked a key step forward in the…
Historic PCC Bust Spurs Brazil Crackdown on Digital Money Laundering
An investigation into a multibillion-dollar First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital – PCC) money laundering scheme involving chemical imports,…
How Beneficial Ownership Policies in Latin America Fight Money Laundering
Latin America and the Caribbean have made strides in building legal frameworks to fight corruption and money laundering. But the…
US Sanctions Mexican Banks in Fentanyl Crackdown, Fueling Bilateral Tensions
The US government recently sanctioned three Mexican financial institutions for allegedly laundering drug money, adding to a series of US…
Can Argentina Face Its Growing Money Laundering Challenges?
Money laundering is one of the most difficult criminal economies to detect and prosecute, and the debate over the effectiveness…