News Analysis
Colombia’s Rural Communities Fight Growing Post-Conflict Threats
Colombia's rural communities stand to gain -- and potentially lose -- the most as the country's 50-year-old armed conflict turns a new leaf. Coca-growing communities fear that they will lose the financial security of their drug crops, while a lack of security guarantees for social leaders has led to a surge in assassinations. As tensions rise in the countryside, civilian resistance may also gather strength.
Venezuela Citizens Charged with Trafficking Arms from Miami
US prosecutors have indicted five citizens of Venezuela in connection with a case involving a Miami arms trafficking network that illustrates the Florida city's importance for gun runners sending US weapons abroad.
Report Highlights Disproportionate Costs of Crime in LatAm
A report by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on the costs of crime and violence in Latin America and the Caribbean shows that while the region has recently made progress in some economic and social development indicators, the costs of the alarming security conditions in some countries are still disproportionately high.
5 Ways Trump's Deportation Plan Helps Criminals
In a number of ways, the Trump administration's plan to curb illegal immigration in the United States could facilitate the type of crime that it purports to stop.
News Briefs
US Indicts Fmr Guatemala VP, Fmr Interior Minister on Drug Charges
A US federal court has indicted the former vice president and the former interior minister of Guatemala on cocaine trafficking...
Bolivia Raises Coca Cultivation Limits, Widens Legal Supply-Demand Gap
Bolivia's government has agreed to raise permitted levels of legal coca production after violent protests by farmers, in a move...
Can Damage Control by US Officials Salvage Security Relations with Mexico?
The US Secretaries of State and Homeland Security visited Mexico in what appears to be an attempt to ease tensions...
Colombia Moves Against FARC Dissenters' Criminal Assets
Authorities in Colombia have seized close to $100 million in assets allegedly belonging to FARC dissidents, as the state begins...
Trinidad Struggles to Stem Youth Recruiting by Gangs, Terror Groups
Authorities in Trinidad and Tobago are taking steps to stop young Muslims from leaving the country to join terrorist groups...
Venezuela 'Kingpin' Skimmed Millions from State Food Program: Report
Reports have emerged that a Venezuelan businessman and alleged drug kingpin with ties to the sitting vice president imported state-controlled...
News Makers
Investigations
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The Lucky ‘Kingpin’: How ‘Chepe Diablo’ Has (So Far) Ridiculed Justice
José Adán Salazar Umaña is the only Salvadoran citizen currently on the US government's Kingpin List. But in his defense, Salazar Umaña claims is he is an honorable businessman who started his career by exchanging money along the borders between Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. He does...
How the MS13 Tried (and Failed) to Create a Single Gang in the US
In July 2011, members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) attended a meeting organized in California by a criminal known as "Bad Boy." Among the invitees was José Juan Rodríguez Juárez, known as "Dreamer," who had gone to the meeting hoping to better understand what was beginning to...
Guatemala's Mafia State and the Case of Mauricio López Bonilla
Former Guatemalan Interior Minister Mauricio López Bonilla -- a decorated war hero and a longtime US ally -- finds himself treading water amidst a flurry of accusations about corruption and his connections to drug traffickers. López Bonilla is not the most well-known suspect in the cases against...
'MS13 Members Imprisoned in El Salvador Can Direct the Gang in the US'
Special Agent David LeValley headed the criminal division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Washington office until last November 8. While in office, he witnessed the rise of the MS13, the Barrio 18 (18th Street) and other smaller gangs in the District of Columbia as well...
The MS13 Moves (Again) to Expand on US East Coast
Local police and justice officials are convinced that the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) has strengthened its presence along the East Coast of the United States. The alarm follows a recent spate of violence -- of the type not seen in a decade -- which included dismembered bodies and...
How the MS13 Got Its Foothold in Transnational Drug Trafficking
Throughout the continent, the debate on whether or not the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) gang is working with or for drug traffickers continues. In this investigation, journalist Carlos García tells the story of how a member of the MS13 entered the methamphetamine distribution business under the powerful auspices...
