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** Wrapping Up Our 15th Year
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Mike LaSusa, Deputy Director of Content
19 DEC, 2025
InSight Crime hasn’t just grown since its launch in 2010 – it has evolved. And so has the criminal landscape we cover.
Over the last 15 years, organized crime in the Americas has undergone profound shifts, which we’ve tracked in real time:
* The rise of synthetic drugs ([link removed]) and the reshaping of regional drug markets
* The boom – and now bust – of migrant smuggling ([link removed]) economies
* Marijuana ([link removed]) legalization efforts and shifting criminal strategies around the most-used drug
* The unstoppable rise of environmental crime ([link removed]) and its consequences for climate change
* Cryptocurrency ([link removed]) ’s move from the margins to the criminal mainstream
* Colombia ([link removed]) ’s repeated attempts to negotiate peace with armed groups
To close out the year, we’ve pulled together a package of coverage on all these dynamics in our annual GameChangers Series ([link removed]) . This will be the 10th edition of this series, and we’re excited to share it with you over the next two weeks.
We will be taking a break while we publish that special series, and you’ll get each new installment straight to your inbox instead of this newsletter. But we will be back in the new year with more of the latest news and analysis on organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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To kick off the new year in 2026, InSight Crime directors Steven Dudley and Jeremy McDermott will join our top editors for a discussion of the Criminal GameChangers annual series.
Donate to attend ([link removed])
Take a closer look at the standout stories from Latin America and the Caribbean that crossed our desk this year:
OnTheRadar (#OnTheRadar) | Editor’s Pick (#Editors-pick) #Editors-pick | Don’t Miss (#Dont-Miss) | In the Spotlight (#In-The-Spotlight) | Audio (#Audio)
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#OnTheRadar ()
** GameChangers 2025 ([link removed])
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◉ ([link removed]) [link removed] Trump Reset the Drug War. ([link removed])
◉ ([link removed]) The Migration Smuggling Boom to Bust. ([link removed])
◉ ([link removed]) Total Peace in Pieces. ([link removed])
◉ ([link removed]) GameChangers 2025. ([link removed])
Watch this Reel ([link removed])
#Editor’sPick ()
Investigations > ([link removed])
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** 2025 Highlight: Tren de Aragua Investigation ([link removed])
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We published nearly a dozen investigations during 2025, and few were as impactful as our deep dive into Tren de Aragua, where we separated fact from fiction and set the record straight on one of Latin America’s most notorious criminal groups.
Leaning on three years of on-the-ground reporting across various countries, we shed new light on the reality of Tren de Aragua — how it has evolved, how it currently operates, and how it might change in the future.
Read the investigation ([link removed])
< Criminal Profiles ([link removed])
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** In the Spotlight ()
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** Chile Elects New ‘Tough on Crime’ President ([link removed])
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Chile has elected José Antonio Kast as its new president in a runoff election shaped by rising crime and violence. The result reflected increased support for tougher security policies amid the expansion of transnational criminal groups like Tren de Aragua.
Concerns about violence and a demand for quick security gains created fertile ground for the type of approach proposed by Kast, which is focused on greater police and military presence, stricter border controls, and a harsher prison system. Find out more about Chile’s criminal landscape here ([link removed]) .
** Don’t Miss ()
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🔗 What Happens Now That the US Has Labeled Fentanyl a WMD ([link removed])
🔗 How Organized Crime Threatens the Amazon’s Uncontacted Tribes ([link removed])
🔗 How Mexico's Fuel Theft Market Went Transnational ([link removed])
🔗 Corruption Looms Over Massive Marijuana Seizure in Paraguay ([link removed])
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** #Audio () 16 DEC, 2025
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** Chasing Brazil’s Premier Money Launderer ([link removed])
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How Brazil’s biggest money launderer almost evaded justice.
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InSight Crime is sponsored by:
American University ([link removed])
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency ([link removed])
Copyright (C) 2025 InSight Crime.All rights reserved.
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