This week, InSight Crime spoke with Juan José Martínez d’Aubuisson about his latest book, "He Who’s Afraid to Die Shouldn’t Be Born ("El que tenga miedo a morir que no nazca"), which explores the complex dynamics between local gangs and the MS13 and Barrio 18 in Rivera Hernández, Honduras.

Also this week, the arrest of Albanian cocaine trafficker Dritan Gjika in the United Arab Emirates suggests the Gulf state may not be the safe haven it once was; increasingly lethal attacks on environmental defenders in Mexico indicates organized crime has a deeper role in land conflicts; Costa Rica’s recent extradition agreement with the United States brings the growing drug-trafficking hub in line with other key nations in the region despite ongoing doubts in its effectiveness to fight organized crime; and recent cases of criminal infiltration in Ecuador’s police and military personnel adds to a long history of close ties between criminal groups, the drug business, and the country’s security forces.

This and more below.

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‘He Who’s Afraid to Die Shouldn’t Be Born’: The Changing Nature of Gangs in Honduras

The Rivera Hernández neighborhood in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula is no ordinary place. It is the wounded heart of San Pedro Sula, the most dangerous part of what has been dubbed “the city of bandits,” once considered the most violent city in the world. Here, under the mantra “We were born to die,” gangs like the Locos de Vesubio push back against the expansion of California-born groups, primarily the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) and Barrio 18.

That very mantra inspired the title of Juan José Martínez d’Aubuisson’s latest book, He Who’s Afraid to Die Shouldn’t Be Born (El que tenga miedo a morir que no nazca), which explores the complex dynamics between local gangs and the MS13 and Barrio 18 in Rivera Hernández. After ten years of fieldwork, Martínez brings together journalism and ethnography to offer a different lens on organized crime in San Pedro Sula.

Read the article here >

See more MS13 coverage >

Is the UAE’s Role as a Safe Haven for Traffickers Waning?

Environmental Defenders in Mexico Face Deadly Threats From Organized Crime

New Security Force Corruption Cases in Ecuador Highlight an Old Problem

This week, InSight Crime's Co-director, Steve Dudley, met with representatives of the Ecuadorian Media for Democracy Foundation at the Foreign Press Center in Washington, D.C. Government officials, civil society groups, and investigative journalists covering the increasing violence in the Western Hemisphere engaged with a group of talented journalists from Ecuador as part of their program “Ensuring Accountability through In-depth Reporting.”

Read our Ecuador coverage >

This Week's Criminal Profile: Chapitos

The Chapitos—Joaquín Guzmán López, Ovidio Guzmán López, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar—are sons of former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias “El Chapo,” who is now serving a life sentence in the United States. Collectively, their faction of the Sinaloa Cartel has emerged as one of the most influential criminal groups in the synthetic drug trade and other criminal economies in northern and western Mexico.

Despite the fact that Ovidio and Joaquín Guzmán are behind bars in the United States and cooperating with prosecutors, the ongoing conflict with the Mayiza faction casts uncertainty over the Chapitos' future. This week, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Archivaldo Iván and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán, the remaining sons of “El Chapo” who are still at large.

Trending: Wave of Attacks in Southwest Colombia Leaves at Least Seven Dead

Western Colombia has been hit by a surge of coordinated violence in Cauca and Valle del Cauca on June 10, with at least seven people killed and dozens more injured in attacks targeting civilians and police. Authorities blame the ex-FARC mafia group, the Central General Staff, for the violence. Some officials believe the attacks may be timed to commemorate the death of Leider Johani Noscue, alias “Mayimbú,” a former dissident commander killed by Colombian forces three years ago.

Read our Ex-FARC Mafia profile >

Read our “Mayimbú” profile >

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