Latinoamérica y el Caribe

Captured by the cartels

...y the sole remit of the National Guard, were also assigned to the army, air force and navy. Such a redelegation of legal authorities is not unprecedented in Latin America. A number of states, such as Mexico, have relied heavily on their military to counter drug trafficking. Often this is due not only to operational capacity of the military forces, but also to the widespread perception they are less corr...

Posted on 17 Apr 2020

Author(s): Matt Herbert

CovidCrimeWatch

#CovidCrimeWatch – n°4

... 2020 The coronavirus is now it is making its way through Latin America, with between 2 000 and 8 000 confirmed cases recorded in many countries across Central and South America – from Mexico and Peru to Ecuador and Chile. Brazil, the worst-hit country in the region, had recorded over 22 000 confirmed cases of the virus, and 1 230 deaths at the time of writing. With people fo...

Posted on 15 Apr 2020

Author(s): Lyes Tagziria

Drug Policy

Black Sea: A rising tide of illicit business?

...anging the market supply-chain dynamics, from the source markets down to the street-level dealers, and cartels in the region are likely to feel the squeeze – as evidenced elsewhere, such as in Mexico. Further monitoring of the regional flows over time will be needed. ...

Posted on 01 Apr 2020

Author(s): Ben Crabtree

CovidCrimeWatch

#CovidCrimeWatch – n°2

...lled mareros) in the capital city have waived the weekly fee. Not all criminal groups, however, seem to be quite so charitable. As reported in the first #CovidCrimeWatch newsletter, shopkeepers in Mexico had threatened to withhold extortion payments as their supply of illicitly sourced goods began to dry up. Yet members of the Unión de Tepito gang in Mexico City insist that they will continue to col...

Posted on 31 Mar 2020

Author(s): Lyes Tagziria

CovidCrimeWatch

COVID-19: Strengthen civil society in a time of unprecedented change and undermine criminal governance

...vernments for greater influence. The Yakuza gangs have been renowned first responders during earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan; the Jalisco cartel distributed aid to hurricane victims in western Mexico last year; meanwhile, al-Shabaab provides relief and distributes food assistance during Somalia’s cyclical droughts. The literature on resilience, which spans people’s responses to a range of ...

Posted on 31 Mar 2020

Author(s): Mark Shaw, Tuesday Reitano

CovidCrimeWatch

The impact: Coronavirus and Organized Crime

... Episode 4 - Human Trafficking and Coronavirus Episode 5 - Human Smuggling and COVID-19 Episode 6 - Cocaine Trafficking and COVID - Colombia, Central America & Mexico Episode 7 - Cocaine Trafficking and COVID - South America, West Africa & Europe Episode 8 - Heroin's journey during COVID Episode 9 - Illegal Wildlife...

Posted on 27 Mar 2020

Author(s): Jack Meegan-Vickers

CovidCrimeWatch

#CovidCrimeWatch – n°1

...s in which social distancing creates both opportunities and obstacles for organized crime, as well as one welcome consequence of the lockdown imposed in a country with a history of mafia activity. Mexico’s criminal groups start to feel the pressure InsightCrime, 18 March 2020 While organized crime in Mexico is most frequently associated with the country’s famous drug cartels, the importance...

Posted on 26 Mar 2020

Author(s): Lyes Tagziria

CovidCrimeWatch

COVID-19: How has the pandemic affected organized crime?

Coronavirus: The impact on crime and criminal networks

...ied to specify that seizures were higher for certain classes of medical products, such as anti-virals, which can be linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, a statistic that was cited suggesting Mexico’s homicide rate had significantly reduced following the introduction of social-distancing measures has been removed due to an error. The GI-TOC report titled ‘Smuggling in the time of ...

Posted on 26 Mar 2020

UN Reform

Cannabis classification still up in the air

...mily- and youth-based prevention campaigns. Improving data collection and promoting evidence-based responses, tabled by Australia, Croatia – on behalf of the European Union (EU), Georgia, Honduras, Mexico, New Zealand and Norway. This group of countries, which have a largely pro-reform outlook on drug policy, tabled this resolution with a view to updating data collection and evidence processes, so the...

Posted on 13 Mar 2020

Author(s): Ian Tennant