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Major Drug Bust Underlines Panama's Growing Transit Use
A one ton drugs bust near the border with Colombia has shone a light on the increasing use of Panama as a transit nation, part of a continuing shift away from direct imports into Mexico. Panama's State...
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Drug Transporting 'Transformer Truck' Found in Bolivia
Bolivian police have discovered a pickup truck smuggling cocaine in modified secret compartments operated by remote control, illustrating the continued ingenuity of drug traffickers in moving their...
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How Agricultural Price Shocks Affect Mexico's Drug Trade
New research has focused on how the changing fortunes of Mexico's agricultural sector can instigate drug crop production and cartel activity, a valuable albeit imperfect addition to research into the...
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Mexico Vigilantes Financed by US Residents Amid Renewed Violence
Mexico nationals living in the United States are helping fund the country's ever-growing self-defense militias, while recent gruesome murders indicate the internal armed conflict will not be calming...
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UK and Colombia Calls for Drug Policy Reform Put Pressure on US
The United Kingdom's deputy prime minister has backed claims by Colombia's president that the so-called "war on drugs" is not working, a sentiment echoed throughout the Americas that may pressure the...
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Honduras Hails 'Mano Dura' Success as Prison Economy Flourishes
Honduras' new government has lauded increased arrests and drug seizures under the new president's hardline security policy, although reports that the country's prisons generate $180 million in illegal...
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Paraguay Weapons Seizure Shows Brazil Crime Presence
Police in Paraguay have arrested three Brazilians after finding a cache of high-powered firearms, including a heavy machine gun, in a case highlighting both the migration of Brazil's criminals into...
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How Gold Trade Fuels Modern-Day Slavery in Peru
Slave-like conditions, frequent accidents, disease and sexual exploitation are a normal part of the illegal gold mining trade in Peru, a gripping report by a watchdog group reveals. The report (pdf),...
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Mexico Joint Op Security Forces - Vigilantes Leads to Arrests, Questions
Mexico's so-called "self-defense" groups have participated in their first major joint operation with state security forces, making numerous arrests in the Michoacan capital of Apatzingan. Some...
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Guatemala Massacre Points to Post-Zetas Scramble
Officials in Guatemala have connected a massacre of nine people in the northern state of Peten to "score settling" among drug traffickers, in what appears another manifestation of the turmoil...
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Venezuela 'Peace Zones' Could Heighten Impunity: Expert
Proposals by the Venezuelan government to form "peace zones" will just enhance the power of criminal gangs and the impunity they enjoy, according to a security expert, whose analysis, it should be...
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Mexico's Oil Reform May Help Organized Crime
Mexico's landmark oil reform is poised to bring a flood of new companies into the nation's energy industry, adding a new set of targets for organized crime. The basic aim of the historic reform passed...
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Actor's Death Opens Door to Rise in US-Mexico Tensions
Following the apparent heroin overdose of a famous actor, US officials say decreased cooperation from authorities in Mexico has allowed the heroin market to expand, a dubious claim related to increased...
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Armed Groups Make Valle del Cauca Colombia's Violence Capital
Colombia's ombudsman's office has warned how guerrilla militias and narco-paramilitary groups have made the department of Valle del Cauca and its capital Cali the epicenter of Colombian organized crime...
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Honduras Cocaine Lab Points to Production Migration
An apparent cocaine factory discovered in Honduras by police was partially destroyed after the site was left unguarded. The laboratory may indicate cocaine production is moving north, while its...
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Airport Controls Unlikely to Stem Flow of Illegal Gold From Peru
Special security teams tasked with catching contraband gold smuggling will be placed in five airports in Peru, though the efficiency of gold laundering inside the country means the initiative will...
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Will Venezuela’s Citizen Security Reform Continue Despite Re-militarization?
January saw an accentuation of the progressive remilitarization of citizen security under the Maduro government, with military officers placed at the head of the National Security University (UNES) and...
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Paraguay Cocaine Lab Bust Latest Example of Criminal Migration
Authorities in Paraguay have highlighted the growing use of the country for cocaine processing, further evidence of the migration of drug production seen throughout the region. According to Paraguay's...
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Meth Bust Shows Role of LatAm Groups in Australia Drug Trade
Five Colombians have been arrested for attempting to import 60 kilos of Mexican methamphetamine into Australia via the United States, in a case which raises questions about which Latin American groups...
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US Italy Mafia Bust Shows Cocaine Trade's Evolution
A billion dollar drug smuggling operation linked to the Italian mafia and dismantled by authorities in the United States and Italy had established a route between Guyana and the United States via...
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