InSight Crime
Monday, April 25, 2016 - 05:46
The United Nations' special assembly on drug policy ended without significant changes to existing drug conventions despite a push for reform from Latin American countries seeking a less prohibitionist regime. With the huge obstacles to a new international consensus made apparent, reformist countries around the region instead look set to continue national level experiments with drug policy.
Thursday, April 21, 2016 - 06:04
A recent report on poppy in Mexico's Guerrero state highlights both the economic benefits and violent repercussions the plant's cultivation -- necessary for producing heroin -- brings to local farming communities.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016 - 06:02
New estimates that the FARC guerrilla organization is worth billions of dollars draw attention to a highly contested issue that is critical to the peace talks between Colombia and its largest rebel group.
Tuesday, April 19, 2016 - 05:46
Witness testimony given to Mexico's human rights agency has implicated federal police in the 2014 disappearance of 43 student protestors from Iguala, opening a new line of inquiry in a landmark case that has yielded few clear answers.
Monday, April 18, 2016 - 05:48
One of the dangers of the new Argentine government's anti-drugs measures is that they enable military intervention in matters of domestic security, a path that once taken, is hard to reverse, according to this analysis published by openDemocracy in advance of the UN General Assembly Special Session on Drug Policy.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - 05:52
The appearance of new and recycled armed groups whose motives are as questionable as their video-making credentials is the latest manifestation of Michoacán's continued decent into nebulous criminal-vigilante territory.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - 05:51
On April 11, Interior Minister Carlos Romero announced at the Sixth Summit on Citizen Security in La Paz that the police had mapped the locations of the country's gangs, reported La Razón. According to the police, 269 gangs are active in Bolivia, with the highest concentration in the cities of Santa Cruz, La Paz and Cochabamba. (See InSight Crime map below)
Monday, April 11, 2016 - 05:22
Colombia's military has outlined areas of focus for its future functions should peace agreements be signed with the FARC and ELN guerrilla groups, several of which involve its potentially problematic, but likely necessary, role in anti-crime efforts.
Wednesday, April 6, 2016 - 06:06
Mexico's homicide rate reached its highest level in two years in February, and the state of Colima displaced Guerrero as having the most reported homicides in the country.
Tuesday, April 5, 2016 - 07:15
A massive leak of confidential documents from a Panamanian law firm shines a light on how elites across the world use offshore shell companies in order to hide their assets, in some cases facilitating corruption and money laundering.