🇲🇽 🇺🇸 | Following an operation in Kansas, US authorities claimed to have dealt a major blow to the Sinaloa Cartel. However, this organization’s operations in the US are highly decentralized. Learn more in our story: https://bit.ly/4dDl49V

🇺🇸 🇻🇪 US airstrikes and intervention in Venezuela may have stemmed the flow of drug boats through the Caribbean. But it likely did little to reduce overall cocaine trafficking, and organized crime is adapting. Read more in our #CocaineRoundUp: https://bit.ly/4w2VYKn

🇨🇴 | The Colombian Attorney General’s Office rejected the government’s request to suspend arrest warrants for 29 members of the Gulf Clan, including that of its main leader, alias “Chiquito Malo.” Learn more here: https://bit.ly/3E5XLTk

🇧🇷 | 20 years ago, Brazil's PCC gang brought São Paulo, to a bloody halt. Founded by a handful of prison inmates, this showed that the PCC was dominant even outside the prisons, and has since expanded exponentially. Learn more here.

💡 We don’t just want you to know about organized crime, we want you to understand it. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: https://bit.ly/3OIblHm

🇵🇾 🇨🇴 | Justice remains elusive four years after the assassination of Paraguayan prosecutor Marcelo Pecci on his honeymoon in Colombia. Though the people that pulled the trigger were arrested, the shot-callers remain at large. Learn more from our analysis: https://bit.ly/40Qd9Bw

#NewAnalysis | Meet the First Costa Ricans to Be Extradited on Drug Charges to the US. 

🇵🇪 | Chile, Peru, and Bolivia are stepping up their crackdown on Los Pulpos, a criminal gang linked to extortion and violence in South America. The group was founded in the Peruvian province of La Libertad in the 1990s but has since expanded into other territories. Read more: https://bit.ly/4qSntnh

🇪🇨 | Extortion has become a key criminal activity for Ecuador’s main criminal groups with names like the Tiguerones, Lobos, and Choneros. Still, statistics show extortion is falling. Find out why here: https://bit.ly/4usvTmz

🎙️🌳 Behind the fires in Bolivia’s Amazon lies a deeper story about land, power, and criminal economies. Listen to the “While Bolivia Is Burning” episode from our first season. And stay tuned, a new season is on the way: https://bit.ly/3UK3iJj

🇵🇪 Peru has touted its coca eradication as an advance against the cocaine trade. But when it comes to cocaine seizures in the producer nation, there is little transparency. Learn more about what seizures tell us in our 2025 #CocaineRoundUp: https://bit.ly/4w2VYKn

🇻🇪 | How did Tren de Aragua’s foreign factions go from using wire transfers to a range of sophisticated money laundering techniques for their illicit gains? Read our analysis to find out: https://bit.ly/4uBpIMR

🇪🇨 | School bus drivers, cemeteries, and shopkeepers are just some of those victimized by extortion in Ecuador in recent years. Is the problem abating as authorities’ claim? Read here: https://bit.ly/4usvTmz

🇲🇽 🇺🇸 | A criminal cell in Kansas allegedly connected to the Sinaloa Cartel has been taken apart by a government operation. What is the relationship between these local networks and larger foreign criminal organizations? Read our analysis: https://bit.ly/4dDl49V

💡 We don’t just want you to know about organized crime, we want you to understand it. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: https://bit.ly/3OIblHm

🇵🇾 🇨🇴 | Four years have passed since Paraguayan anti-mafia prosecutor Marcelo Pecci was murdered on his honeymoon. Those that ordered his death are still no closer to facing justice. Learn more about the case here: https://bit.ly/40Qd9Bw

#NewAnalysis | How Tren de Aragua’s Expansion Sparked Financial Evolution.

🇨🇴 | Four Colombian officials kidnapped in Arauca were sentenced by the ELN to remain in captivity for up to five years on charges of alleged espionage. Decades of ELN control in this border region have led to widespread criminal governance. https://bit.ly/4wiL0k3

Regulatory gaps surrounding influencers and the lavish lifestyles they showcase on social media create ideal conditions for money laundering by criminal networks. Read our analysis at: https://bit.ly/4u5BYpa

🇲🇽 | The rise of the CJNG under El Mencho was tied to the expansion of the methamphetamine market. Our analysis connects data on consumption patterns, price, and seizure with the support of artificial intelligence. Read more: https://bit.ly/4tIYNhN

🇺🇸 🇻🇪 The US capture of Venezuela's leader, Nicolás Maduro, threw its political and criminal future into uncertainty. Will a new regime, mostly made up of members of the old guard, make any difference to the cocaine business? Find out in our #CocaineRoundUp. https://bit.ly/4w2VYKn

🇧🇷 | Brazilian authorities dismantled a criminal network that offered online courses for scammers, teaching fraud techniques and selling stolen banking data to clients across the country.

🇧🇷 As security measures increased at Brazil’s main trafficking hubs, criminal networks moved operations to alternative ports and routes in 2025, underscoring how cocaine flows continue to adapt to enforcement pressure. Learn more in our #CocaineRoundUp: https://bit.ly/4w2VYKn

🇨🇴 | Fabio Enrique Ochoa, one of the top leaders of Pablo Escobar’s Medellín Cartel in the 1980s, returned to Colombia after serving a prison sentence in the United States. Learn more about the Medellín Cartel’s operations and legacy in our profile.

🇪🇨 | In 2025, Ecuadorian police dismantled dozens of criminal networks linked to extortion, and implemented new measures to make it easier for citizens to report the crime. But locals told us they still fear extortion. Read the full analysis: https://bit.ly/4usvTmz

💡 We don’t just want you to know about organized crime, we want you to understand it. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: https://bit.ly/3OIblHm

🇪🇨 | 25 police raids resulted in 11 arrests of alleged criminals linked to the Lobos criminal group in the Ecuadorian city of Quevedo. How did the Lobos gain so much power in Ecuador? Find out by reading our Lobos profile: https://bit.ly/4cVeM6Z

🇵🇪 | The arrest of 7 alleged Lobos members in Peru adds to the evidence of the gang’s foreign expansion. How did the Lobos and other Ecuadorian gangs begin operating in Peru? https://bit.ly/3XdNZKY

🇧🇴 Walking through the Chiquitanía region of Bolivia, our InSight Crime researchers saw a single almond tree surrounded by a swath of destruction. Listen to the first episode of our first podcast season to learn what is causing the fires that threaten the Bolivian Amazon: https://bit.ly/3UK3iJj

🇲🇽 | Mexican authorities have arrested former Zetas leader Jaime Cabrera Escalante, alias “Román,” who was also allegedly tied to the Northeast Cartel. His capture adds to a growing list of high-profile captures in Mexico. More here: https://bit.ly/4eaD7qp

🇲🇽 | The methamphetamine market that grew under El Mencho spans more than two decades, and understanding it requires an analysis of different, fragmented data. InSight Crime used Nelson AI to organize that information and analyze its evolution. Explore the analysis: https://bit.ly/4tIYNhN

🇻🇪 | The arrest of Tren de Aragua co-founder Larry Changa’s sister in Colombia marks another blow to the Venezuelan transnational crime group. How did criminal competition limit Tren de Aragua’s Colombian presence? http://bit.ly/3VRswpY

🇲🇽 | For 20 years, Mexico has relied on a US-backed kingpin strategy focused on arresting or killing the country’s top drug bosses. The capture of a top CJNG commander known as El Jardinero is just the latest chapter in that offensive. But who’s left?: https://bit.ly/4eaD7qp

Raffles for apartments, luxury vehicles, and cash are among the schemes that authorities in various Latin American countries are investigating as a form of money laundering via social media. Learn more at: https://bit.ly/4u5BYpa

🇧🇪 Belgium saw cocaine seizures rise in 2025 as drug-related violence intensified. Turf wars linked to trafficking networks have fueled a sharp increase in shootings, reflecting growing competition over access to Europe’s main cocaine entry routes. Read more #CocaineRoundUp https://bit.ly/4w2VYKn

🇻🇪 | Guyana reported attacks on its patrols from the Venezuela side of the Essequibo border days after hearings on the territorial dispute between the two countries began. Read our investigation into past attacks and criminal activity in the Essequibo: https://bit.ly/4mM9MnW

This year has seen the capture of many alleged crime bosses around Latin America. The latest? The CJNG’s ‘El Jardinero,’ who was formally indicted for organized crime and money laundering. Learn more about this crime lord in our latest Narrated Story: https://bit.ly/4urlJ5q

🇪🇨 | After extortion cases jumped 1,300% in Ecuador between 2019 and 2024, they fell 30% in 2025. The reason behind this drop in the statistics is more complicated than falling rates of actual extortion. More here: https://bit.ly/4usvTmz

💡 We don’t just want you to know about organized crime, we want you to understand it. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: https://bit.ly/3OIblHm

🇨🇴 | The ELN sentenced two police officers and two agents from the Colombian Attorney General’s Office to between 3 and 5 years of “revolutionary imprisonment.” The officials were kidnapped in Arauca in 2025, an area where the ELN exercises strong criminal control. https://bit.ly/4wiL0k3

🇪🇨 Cocaine seizures in Ecuador fell sharply, from 160.2 tons in 2024 to 75.9 in 2025. Meanwhile, authorities registered a significant increase in interdictions at sea and internationally, underscoring intensified operations beyond its borders. Find more #CocaineRoundUp https://bit.ly/4w2VYKn

🇵🇪 | Police in Peru arrested alleged members of Ecuadorian gang the Lobos. How have Ecuadorian criminal groups begun encroaching on their southern neighbor? https://bit.ly/3XdNZKY

🎙️ While traveling through Latin America and the Caribbean, we’ve met people whose stories help explain how organized crime operates across the region. Listen to season one of our podcast. A new season is coming soon: https://bit.ly/3UK3iJj

🇪🇨 | Los Ríos province has long been a criminal hub in Ecuador. Now, security forces are cracking down on the Lobos crime group in the city of Quevedo. Read more about the Lobos’ territorial control in Ecuador in our profile on the group: https://bit.ly/4cVeM6Z

🇨🇴 | After serving a 10-year sentence in the United States, Fabio Ochoa, former leader of the now-defunct Medellín Cartel, returned to Colombia. Learn more about his criminal history and connections in our profile of the Medellín Cartel.

🇲🇽 | Former Zetas boss Jaime Cabrera Escalante, alias “Román,” has been arrested in Mexico. Authorities also linked him to the Northeast Cartel. Are there any true kingpins left in the country’s criminal landscape? Read more: https://bit.ly/4eaD7qp

🇵🇾 | Paraguay’s supreme court is the last hope for Paraguayan lawmaker Erico Galeano, after an appeals court upheld his sentence for money laundering and criminal conspiracy tied to Sebastián Marset. Read our analysis for more: https://bit.ly/4uZgDhR

🚨 Cocaine seizures moved in opposite directions as enforcement strategies shifted in 2025. While Colombia saw a 59.4% increase from 2024, Bolivia registered a 62.7% decrease. Learn more at our #CocaineRoundUp: https://bit.ly/4w2VYKn

🇵🇪 | Peruvian police arrested a man who ordered the murders of environmental leaders of the Alto Tamaya Saweto community in 2014. Learn how this case became emblematic of the dangers facing environmental defenders: https://bit.ly/3vkw7TQ

🇲🇽 | How did the methamphetamine market evolve during El Mencho’s rise? InSight Crime analyzed nearly two decades of data with support from Nelson AI to chart its evolution. Read more: https://bit.ly/4tIYNhN