Tag: organized crime

QCOSTARICA - This Saturday, October 24, the Ministry of Public Security (MSP) resumed mega-operations throughout the country. On Saturday night, the Fuerza Publica (national police), Vigilancia Aérea (Air Surveillance), the Policía de Tránsito (Traffic Police) and the municipal police travel through the most conflictive areas...

Recent deadly attacks by criminal organizations have instilled fear across Mexico. In mid-October, shootouts between cartels and police in the states of Guerrero and Michoacán killed over 30 people. And a 12-hour criminal assault on Culiacán, Sinaloa, after Mexican security forces captured the son of...

A study of the long history of revolutionary socialism leads us to discover that for centuries, the quest for power for socialists was rarely anything other than agitation, terrorism, organized crime, conspiracy, and coups. When it was something different, it was simple tactics, short-term or...

The United States Congress approved to provide Costa Rica with a US$40.7 million item in the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime during 2019. According to the Foreign Ministry, said budget allocation represents an increase of 33% with respect to the aid received from...

(Panam Post) Many analysts are shocked at the collapse of Venezuela, a nation that was once showcased as the cradle of modernity in Latin America. This surprise of course springs from the fact that most observers failed to realize that the ascent of the...

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis met with Colombia’s defense minister on Friday to reaffirm the long-standing defense relationship between the United States and Colombia, chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana W. White said. The defense ministers of Colombia,  Guillermo Botero and the United States, James Mattis met...

Three out of every 10 homicides since January of this year are linked to drug trafficking or organized crime, explained Verónica Pérez of the Office of Plans and Operations of the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ). The last case that the authorities are investigating -...

Insightcrime.org – There is no universally accepted definition of what constitutes a “mafia state.” Here are seven arguments as to why we think Venezuela qualifies and what the implications are of this troubled Andean nation as a regional crime hub. 1. Top level criminal penetration...

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) raided a total of 40 homes in the province of Heredia in an attempt to dismantle a gang dedicated to the distribution of illegal drugs. In total 5 groups were targeted...

The impact that drug-related violence has on citizens in Mexico is similar to what people living through war experience, according to the president of the Red Cross, in a controversial comparison that has been made before. In an October 21 interview with El Universal, Peter Maurer...

Q COSTA RICA - Four men were killed on Thursday in a four-hour period in Pavas, Paso Ancho and Tibas, in what authorities believe is pay-back, acts of revenge, linked to organized crime and the illegal drug trade. In Paso Ancho, the bodies were 150...

Q COSTA RICA - The Organismo Investigación Judicial (OIJ), Costa Rica's judicial police, announced the creation of a major crimes unit to combat the 'elites' of organized crime. The unit, Seccióon Especializada Contra Crimen Organizado (SECCR), that is made up of 20 agents, began operations...

Venezuela may have given passports to people with ties to terrorism – CNN.comTODAY VENEZUELA – Over the past two weeks, a familiar narrative has been resuscitated: the threat of “Islamic terrorism” emanating from Latin America, through the revival of one of its most important...

Q COSTA RICA (Insightcrime.org) Authorities in Costa Rica are worried that the dismantling of Colombia's main guerrilla group could threaten the country's stability, as a new generation of criminal networks are likely to take over the drug routes formerly held by the insurgents. Speaking before...

Q24N (Insighcrime.org) Donald Trump has targeted organized crime and drug cartels in a new executive order, but beyond the tough talk and bluster there is little to suggest the new US president has any serious strategy to tackle Latin America's "bad hombres." On February 9,...

(Q24N) Insightcrime.org- In the wake of Donald Trump's surprising victory in the US presidential election, InSight Crime considers the impact his administration could have on security and organized crime in Latin America. Trump will hold the top office alongside a Republican-dominated Congress, as the party...

(QCOSTARICA) Through a donation by the government of China, Costa Rica now has two new airplanes for the transport of police for the fight against organized crime and drug trafficking, as well as ambulance and humanitarian aid. The two planes, with the tail numbers MSP009...

(QCOSTARICA) Costa Rican model Adriana Kathia Corella will be spending the next four years and six months in prison, sentenced by a Nicaraguan court for money laundering and organized crime. The sentence was read Wednesday afternoon by judge of the Seventh Criminal Court District Trial...

(QCOSTARICA) A rise in crime in Costa Rica can be directly attributed to drug trafficking, a rise in drug-related murders contributing to the homicide rate almost doubling in the last decade and a half. According to the report by Crhoy.com, battles for turf between local...

Q24N - A new report sheds light on how vulnerable populations subjected to slave-like conditions line the pocketbooks of organized crime networks across Latin America. The 2016 Global Slavery Index (pdf) published by Walk Free Foundation estimates that 2.2 million of the world's 45.8 million enslaved people...

(Q24N) The Panama Papers data leak exposed an offshore account belonging to a Guatemalan drug trafficker and money launderer, providing intricate details into the shady dealings of Guatemala's prolific narco "queen." A report by Univision highlights the involvement of Marllory Chacón Rossell, often referred to as...

QCOSTARICA - The murder of Alejo Leiva Lachner at the hands of a mob of at least 20 men, outside a bar in Playas del Coco early Saturday, uncovers fears on insecurity by residents of this tourist beach town, they say has been there...

QCOSTARICA - A real estate broker, construction company, casino, or a lawyer in Costa Rica may be among targets by extremist financial groups, making the country weak, allowing networks to launder money from organized crime. That is the opinion of the Financial Action Task Force...

  QCOSTARICA (Insightcrime.org) Homicides reached historic levels during the past year in Costa Rica, forcing authorities to look for new ways to counteract the surge in violence. Statistics from Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Department (OIJ) show that 2015 was the country's most violent year on record,...

QCOSTARICA - The new head of the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ), Walter Espinoza, says that the country needs a specialized unit to combat organized crime. Espinoza, elected on Monday to lead the country's judicial police force (akin to the FBI), says one of his...

QCOSTARICA - Pamela Crespi, 29, one of three persons accused of being part of El Indio's gang of drug traffickers and car thieves centered in the southern metropolitan area, but who was declared innocent during the trial, was shot three times Sunday morning. She was...