What a ‘Historic’ Marijuana Seizure Says About Smuggling Dynamics in Argentina
A recent seizure of nearly 10 tons of marijuana in Argentina was portrayed by the government as an historic blow…
On the Radar: US Targets and Negotiates with Traffickers
This week, we analyze the US’s anti-drug strategy in South America, a Sinaloa Cartel boss’s guilty plea, and the pardoning…
Could Armed Groups Backed by Maduro Resist a US Invasion of Venezuela?
With the United States weighing up a military intervention to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power, the criminal organizations…
Chapitos Plea Deal Raises More Questions on US Role in El Mayo’s Kidnapping in Mexico
A top leader of the Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel has agreed to cooperate with US prosecutors, marking yet…
Ecuador’s Official Security Claims Belie Reality
Ecuador’s government marked two years in office by trumpeting the results of its hardline anti-crime policies. But its claims of…
The Pros and Cons of a US Intervention in Venezuela
The world has been watching for weeks to see if the United States will escalate its militarized anti-drug mission in…
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…
What’s Behind Costa Rica’s ‘First’ Transnational Criminal Organization?
Authorities in Costa Rica are on high alert after uncovering the so-called South Caribbean Cartel, reportedly the country’s first transnational…
On the Radar: Rebel Leader Iván Mordisco Threatens Violence After Colombia Military Strikes
This week in On the Radar, we analyze the arrest in Spain of one of Ecuador’s most powerful criminal leaders,…
On the Radar: US Strikes Trigger International Rebuke
This week in On the Radar, Ecuador inaugurates a new maximum-security mega-prison, while Colombia and the United Kingdom push back…