On April 20, 2001, Peruvian security forces, with CIA help, shot down a small floatplane over the Amazon near the Brazilian border. American missionary Veronica Bowers and her infant daughter died in the attack. Having filed no flight plan, the aircraft’s pilot failed to respond over the radio. Authorities suspected the plane of transporting drugs,…
Category: Cartel and Gang Profiles
Cartel Corner #83: Acapulco Turned Into “Gurrero’s Iraq” By Drug Cartels
The idyllic Pacific coast town of Acapulco in Mexico’s Guerrero state once welcomed Hollywood stars and honeymooners, but the city has suffered a wave of bloody violence in recent years, as cartels and criminal groups battle for control. Since 2012, Acapulco, which has been called “Guerrero’s Iraq,” has been the most violent city in Mexico,…
Modern Crime: Security Firms are Big Source of Weapons for Rio Criminals
Over 30 percent of all weapons belonging to private security firms in Rio de Janeiro end up in the hands of criminals, authorities say, highlighting an important yet often overlooked source of firearms for criminal groups throughout Latin America. A Federal Police report accessed by Globo states that at least 17,662 firearms were diverted or…
Cartel Corner #82: Facebook Equals “KillBook” With Salvadoran Gangs
Just one more reason to dump social media. These gangs are moving North by the hundreds and bringing their skill-sets with them. -SF Teens hoping to escape the pressure of gang recruitment in El Salvador by fleeing to the US might breathe a sigh of relief when they cross the border. Their solace is often…
Cartel Corner #81: Organized Crime and Narco-Terrorism in Peru Now on U.S. Radar
From May 8 through May 13, I had the opportunity to participate in the international Special Operations Forces exercise “Fuerzas Comando” in Lima, Peru. The event occurred at a pivotal moment, just after the first round of Peru’s presidential elections in early April. The exercise also occurred little more than a month after the terrorist…
Cartel Corner #80: Infiltrating the Dope Game
Anti-drug agents are usually extremely cautious about spilling the beans on their secret world, which lies somewhere between espionage, police work and battlefield. But here’s a rare inside look, offered by a veteran of the drug war. Mike Vigil, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s former chief of international operations, served more than three decades in the agency,…
Cartel Corner#79: Oil Pipeline Theft By Drug Cartels On the Rise
Pipeline theft in Mexico rose 52% in 2015, according to an Associated Press report. The spike came after a43.7% annual increase in 2014, according to asustainability report by Pemex, Mexico’s state-owned oil company. And while the northeast section of the country — the site of competition between the vicious Zetas and Gulf cartels — was…
Cartel Corner #78: The Rise of Mexican Black Tar Heroin
As the rate of opioid addiction has surged in the United States, Mexico has become the world’s third-largest producer of opium used to process heroin. Mexican cartels are now the primary suppliers of the drug to the US, producing a crude and unrefined form known as black tar. VICE News travels to the fertile mountains…
Modern Crime: The Golden Age of Drug Trafficking
Diplomats and top officials from governments around the world gathered last week at United Nations headquarters in New York to discuss what to do about the global drug problem. Over the course of four days and multiple discussions, the assembled dignitaries vowed to take a more comprehensive approach to the issue than in years past…
Cartel Corner #77: Some Drug Cartels Making More Money From Gold than Coke
Organized crime networks in Latin America have long made their money off of drugs. But over the past decade, as gold prices have soared, cartels have increasingly turned to illegally mining the metal to earn cash. In Peru and Colombia, they’re now making more money exporting illegal gold than cocaine. Eighty percent of the gold…