InSight Crime

🔎 At InSight Crime, one of our most important rules is to seek out the primary source. That means finding people and documents with firsthand information, often from official channels. But information from official sources can be wrong or presented in a misleading way to serve political interests. So how do we avoid stenography and regurgitating disinformation? 👉

📆 🌎 InSight Crime’s Monitoring and Data Analysis Unit is hosting an event where our regional experts will examine ten years of homicide data across 24 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The discussion will explore how organized crime has influenced homicide trends in each country and provide insights into our methodology for tracking homicide data.

Money laundering has reached record heights in Costa Rica, as "Caso Fénix" exposes. The Costa Rican group that was indicted is accused of laundering $17 million in drug trafficking profits for Mexican cartels. The case shows the growing importance of transnational criminal influence in the country. But experts agree, that "Caso Fénix" shows not only the anti-money laundering efforts of the authorities, but that Costa Rican groups are growing stronger in a context of rising drug trafficking and violence. In recent years, Costa Rica increased its national anti-money laundering safeguards leading to recognition of those efforts to curb financial crime by international bodies. However, "Caso Fénix" shows that local groups know to abuse remaining susceptible economies and corrupt functionaries. Read more here: https://bit.ly/43DkndP

With online banking now the norm, million dollar heists can be pulled off from home. Grandoreiro, malware originally developed in Brazil, has taken off and is attacking banks globally, while the criminal network behind it continues to evolve. First appearing in 2016, Grandoreiro targeted local banks in Brazil, running against the norms followed by cybercriminals in other parts of the world. In Russian-speaking countries, for example, groups avoid targeting organizations at home to avoid local law enforcement. By 2017, Brazilian authorities were on Grandoreiro’s trail, but the network spread to Argentina and other parts of Latin America, and its attacks started to include Europe. Today, it is targeting banks around the world as the malware continues to evolve to avoid antivirus software and hide the identities of its developers. Several arrests in Brazil and Argentina have taken down cells, but it seems likely these are lower-level members of the network, while those are the center remain at large. Learn more about how this criminal network’s evolution in our latest analysis: https://bit.ly/4cdi1V9

The Portuguese Navy seized a record 6.5 tons of cocaine hidden in a narco sub. The find shows a worrying trend: semi-submersibles have evolved to cross the Atlantic carrying larger loads for longer, and defying the efforts of authorities. Collaboration between Portugal, Spain, the US and the UK enabled this historic seizure, , but experts warn that these methods will continue to adapt and improve. Read our full analysis: https://bit.ly/4lc6WIb

InSight Crime is looking for 2025 summer Monitoring and Data Analysis (MAD) Unit interns. To learn more about how to apply, visit https://lnkd.in/etZbHegS

👉InSight Crime invites you to become a regular donor, and to participate in our next event on April 28: InSight Crime’s Homicide Round-Up: A Decade of Analysis. InSight Crime experts will share their findings and analyses about the main trends and changes in homicide rates in Latin America and the Caribbean in the last 10 years.  📋This is an exclusive event for donors. If you are a regular donor or make a one-time donation from $15 USD between March 28 and April 24, you will have access to the exclusive presentation featuring key data and graphics, and will receive our 2024 #HomicideRound-Up in PDF format. 📥We are waiting for you!  https://bit.ly/41VUlBp

InSight Crime is looking for 2025 summer editorial interns. To learn more about how to apply, visit https://lnkd.in/eFB-vwS5

In recent years, InSight Crime has documented the massive profits criminal organizations reap from transporting and distributing drugs across Venezuelan territory. Now, a new report by Transparencia Venezuela estimates that 639 metric tons of cocaine passed through Venezuela in 2024, generating some $8.24 billion in revenue for drug trafficking groups. Cocaine enters Venezuela mainly through the border with Colombia into Zulia state, which neighbors the Catatumbo region — the epicenter of cocaine production in Colombia — as well as through the states of Táchira and Apure. From there, it is moved to coastal states that serve as departure points: Zulia and Falcón in the west; La Guaira and Carabobo in the center; and Nueva Esparta, Sucre, Monagas, and Delta Amacuro in the east. These corridors facilitate shipments bound for the Caribbean, Central America, and Europe. Read more about Venezuela’s drug trafficking economy in this report and in our coverage through InSight Crime’s Venezuela Observatory: https://bit.ly/4buMOuY

A new law proposed in Brazil has been dubbed the “Anti-Oruam” bill in reference to the trapper Mauro Davi dos Santos Nepomuceno, known as Oruam. The artist is the son of Márcio dos Santos Nepomuceno, alias Marcinho VP, one of Red Command’s (Comando Vermelho – CV) most prominent leaders, who has been in prison since 1996. In his concerts, Oruam advocates for his father’s freedom, which prompted the bill against him. The proposed law aims to ban public financing for concerts featuring music that glorifies organized crime. In our recent analysis, we discuss if the law would have any impact on Brazil’s organized crime dynamics. Read our article to learn more: