🇧🇷 | Investigators claim the First Capital Command (PCC) used a transport company as a financial arm to move and conceal illicit funds, in a scheme allegedly linked to a Brazilian influencer. Learn more about the links between influencers and organized crime here: bit.ly/4u5BYpa
Some Balkan criminals in Latin America serve as emissaries for criminal groups in their home countries, while others act independently, setting up their own operations. More on the types of Balkan criminal actors in the Americas here: bit.ly/3RsMwQM
🇲🇽 | Last year, the discovery of an extermination and forced labor camp run by the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (CJNG) sparked outrage in Mexico and underscored the group’s brutal recruitment methods. Now, search collectives say they’ve found another camp. bit.ly/4c7u0DR
🇺🇾 | Parties, designer clothes, and jewels are cited in the money laundering case against Gianina García Troche, the mother of Sebastián Marset’s children. She is facing trial for allegedly laundering million of his cocaine profits. Learn more: bit.ly/4dhcz3m
Figures like Dritan Gjika and Dritan Rexhepi are just two of a long line of influential Balkan drug traffickers that set up shop in Ecuador. What role do these figures play in the underworld? Are they linked to mafia groups? More here: bit.ly/3RsMwQM
🇸🇻 Carlos Ernesto Mojica Lechuga, alias "Viejo Lin" was a top leader of El Salvador’s Barrio 18 gang who lived through a one-time truce with the MS13. He died in prison this week from liver complications. Revisit our interview with the infamous gang leader. bit.ly/4dzU6As
🇻🇪 | A murky and implausible police purge, an incomplete amnesty riddled with irregularities, and bilateral cooperation with no clear results. The security measures implemented in Venezuela have yet to translate into real change. Learn more here: bit.ly/4eWTSpw
🇧🇷 | A Brazilian influencer was arrested in an operation targeting an alleged First Capital Command (PCC) money laundering scheme. Learn more about the links between influencers and Brazil’s organized crime: bit.ly/4u5BYpa
🇲🇽 | Authorities in Mexico’s western state of Jalisco have reportedly uncovered another clandestine killing camp and crematorium. Read more about the links between these sites and the powerful Jalisco Cartel (CJNG). bit.ly/4c7u0DR
🇲🇽 🇺🇸 | Precursor chemical suppliers, clandestine producers, trafficking networks, and local gangs all shape the fentanyl market. Explore this interactive visualization by Luke Curran tracing routes from Mexico’s Pacific ports to the US border: bit.ly/3RpUpq7
🇨🇴 | Ahead of the upcoming presidential elections in Colombia, several criminal groups have announced unilateral ceasefires. The latest group to do so was the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group. Read their profile here: bit.ly/3dkFk53
🇺🇸 | The US Defense Department’s internal watchdog is evaluating whether strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific on alleged drug vessels followed approved guidelines. How have these strikes unfolded? bit.ly/4oxipDs
🇺🇾 | There's new evidence in the Marset case as Paraguay releases over 300 pages of evidence of money laundering involving the mother of this children. Learn more about the accusation against her in our analysis: bit.ly/4dhcz3m
Balkan criminals have a long history of involvement in Latin America’s drug trade, funneling tons of cocaine towards Europe’s ever-growing consumer markets. Read more about the different roles these figures take in Latin America here: bit.ly/3RsMwQM
🇸🇻 | Carlos Ernesto Mojica Lechuga, alias "Viejo Lin" and leader of the Barrio 18 street gang, died in prison from liver complications. Check out our interview with the Salvadoran gang leader. bit.ly/4dzU6As
🇪🇨 | Extortion is a crucial income stream for Ecuadorian organized crime groups like the Lobos, Choneros, and Tiguerones. While authorities say extortion reports are down, locals disagree. Listen to our latest Narrated Story here: bit.ly/3Rnm2jB
🇨🇴 | As Colombia’s upcoming presidential election approaches, violence across the country continues to rise due to the actions of dissident groups from the FARC and the ELN. Learn more about the security challenges the new government will face here: bit.ly/4onE40a