News of drug war

Rosario surpasses grim threshold of 150 homicides

06-07-2023 09:35 Four people killed in just three hours in crime-ridden Rosario; Argentina's second city, with a population of 1.3 million, has already suffered 151 homicides this year.

Drug-trafficking

Uruguay finds cocaine in surfboards bound for Europe

14-06-2023 10:32 Uruguay's anti-drug brigade seize almost 50 kilos of cocaine hidden in surfboards in an international operation launched in May with police from Spain, Portugal and Italy. The drugs were bound for Europe.

NIGHTMARE EXPERIENCE

Woman interred alive in Brazil tomb

30-03-2023 14:16 Thirty-six-year-old woman found sealed alive inside a mausoleum wall at a cemetery in Brazil, after surviving around 10 hours inside the narrow tomb.

CRIME & SECURITY

Rosario: A city under threat from murderous drug gangs

29-03-2023 13:18 Rosario, Argentina's second city with a population of 1.3 million, has a homicide rate of 22 per 100,000 inhabitants – five times the national average. As a result of its privileged position as a major port city, drug-trafficking is having a devastating impact on the city’s poorest neighbourhoods and residents.

CRIME & SECURITY

Government reinforces security forces in Rosario amid drug violence

07-03-2023 15:07 President Fernández boosts the number of federal security forces available to authorities in Rosario and says he will send a division of the Army to support efforts to overhaul and urbanise working-class neighbourhoods.

CRIME & SECURITY

Rosario: a death a day in a city on edge from drug-trafficking

07-03-2023 09:37 Three out of every four homicides registered in the city of Rosario are premeditated, observes survey.

Anger in Rosario

Homes of alleged drug-traffickers in Rosario vandalised after child's killing

07-03-2023 07:50 Residents of the working-class neighbourhood of Los Pumitas ransacked and vandalised homes of suspected drug-traffickers on Monday; Vigilante response to death of an 11-year-old child, who was killed in a violence shootout over weekend.

CRIME & SECURITY

Messi’s family threatened by narcos in his hometown of Rosario

02-03-2023 19:28 Several shots were fired early Thursday at a supermarket in Rosario owned by the family of Messi’s wife, Antonela Roccuzzo.

CRIME & SECURITY

Shots fired, threats left at supermarket belonging to Messi's wife's family

02-03-2023 12:07 Narco violence in Rosario escalates as supermarket belonging to the family of Antonela Rocuzzo, the wife of Lionel Messi, was hit by a mafia-style attack in the early hours of Thursday morning.

FEATURE: DRUG-TRAFFICKING

How drug smugglers infiltrated a global shipping giant

24-12-2022 09:40 As MSC grew into a dominant force in global trade, it also became a prime drug-trafficking conduit for Balkan gangs.

FEATURE: DRUG-TRAFFICKING

Cocaine is flooding into Europe and it's terrorising cities

24-12-2022 08:40 Cocaine often hitches a ride from Latin America in the same ships that carry produce. The drug is swamping Europe, and some communities have been terrorised.

FEATURE: DRUG-TRAFFICKING

The golden age of cocaine is happening right now

22-12-2022 14:09 Global fallout from Colombia's cocaine boom is showing up everywhere from the warehouses of Antwerp to coup plots in West Africa, bringing violence, corruption and big profits.

DRUG TRAFFICKING

Ecuador: a new nerve centre for global drug trade

24-11-2022 13:18 Geography and corruption among the main reasons that one of Latin America's smaller countries has evolved into a hotspot for transnational crime.

ECUADOR

At least 15 dead in Ecuadoran prison riots

04-10-2022 15:36 Tactical units sent to re-establish control following fatal clash between inmates and authorities.

COLOMBIA

Blinken on South American tour says US, Colombia 'in sync' on drug war

04-10-2022 14:53 Secretary of State signals bilateral alignment on curbing the flow of narcotics during joint press conference in Bogotá.

ECUADOR

Ecuadorean hate crimes prosecutor murdered

19-09-2022 15:44 Public prosecutor Edgar Escobar gunned down in front of office, the latest in spate of targeted killings.

CRIME & SECURITY

Violence-ridden Rosario suffered one murder a day in August

07-09-2022 14:47 Incessant and fatal violence continues in Rosario: crime-ridden city suffered 31 violent killings in August.

CRIME: DRUG-TRAFFICKING

Hidrovía del Paraná: the waterway which passes South America’s drugs to Europe

01-09-2022 09:50 Drug authorities last week seized 1.6 tons of cocaine worth approximately US$60 million – one of the largest busts in recent years. The raid, which took place in Rosario, once again highlights the role played by local ports in international drug-trafficking.

by Leonardo Nieva

Colombia New Presidency

Colombia to divert criminals' assets to social good: president

19-08-2022 15:38 Colombia's new president Gustavo Petro has vowed to transfer assets seized from drug traffickers and other criminals to needy communities in the violence- and inequality-plagued country.

Drug Trafficking

Honduras extradites alleged drug matriarch to the US

26-07-2022 16:00 Honduras hands over gang grandame for US trial; sexagenarian Herlinda Bobadilla arrested in mountainous cartel shootout which killed son.

Violence in Prisons

13 inmates killed in fresh fight in Ecuador prison

19-07-2022 16:11 Another bloody Ecuadorian prison fight claims lives, officials confirmed Monday.

FARC

Colombian forces kill FARC dissident leader

18-07-2022 14:19 Death of rebel leader Nestor Vera described by Colombian government as “final blow” to FARC.

New Era in Colombia

Colombian president-elect proposes 'ceasefire,' talks with ELN

06-07-2022 15:46 Colombia's leftist president-elect Gustavo Petro proposes a "bilateral ceasefire" with the violence-stricken country's last active guerrilla group, the ELN.

HEALTH & SOCIETY

UN report says cocaine use has risen in Argentina over past decade

29-06-2022 10:00 Argentina is one of the countries in South America where the consumption of cocaine and psychoactive substances has grown the most over the past decade, according to the latest UN World Drug Report.

Vale do Javari

How Brazil's Javari Valley became a criminal haven

14-06-2022 14:18 The Javari Valley is one of the remotest places on Earth, a vast expanse of thick jungle in northwestern Brazil near the Peruvian and Colombian borders. It is also a haven for drug-trafficking and environmental crimes.

Drug Trafficking

Paraguay's slow slide into a state held hostage to drug-trafficking

02-06-2022 13:03 The murders of two Paraguayan officials in as many weeks have sent a disturbing signal that parts of the South American country are falling under the influence — and bullets — of organised crime and drug-traffickers.

EDITORIAL

Could opium be the opium of the masses?

21-05-2022 06:00 In order to overcome the widespread perception that they are hopelessly abstract, institutions need to establish a connection with current problems and everyday life to become established again.

CRIME & SECURITY

Three decades after Pablo Escobar's death, drugs ravage Medellín

10-05-2022 17:03 Three decades after cartel boss Pablo Escobar was shot dead by police on a rooftop in Medellín, the very city he had sought to uplift with drug money is being ravaged by it, having become the epicentre of the domestic drug trade.

CRIME & SECURITY

Founder of ‘Los Monos’ drug gang arrested

29-04-2022 15:04 Founder of the ‘Los Monos’ drug-trafficking gang, Máximo Ariel ‘El Viejo’ Cantero, arrested and taken into custody.

CRIME & SECURITY

Drug-related violence soars to ‘critical’ levels in Rosario

29-04-2022 15:01 At least 90 killed from narco-violence in Rosario so far this year; Slain bodies found in mafia-style killings as local authorities warn the situation is ‘critical.’

Drug-trafficking allegations

Honduras ex-president Hernández to be extradited to the US over drug-trafficking

28-03-2022 21:44 Honduras' Supreme Court authorises extradition to the United States of former president Juan Orlando Hernández on drug-trafficking charges.

Violence in Latin America

Mutilated bodies, gang wars shock once-peaceful Ecuador

03-03-2022 13:50 An intensifying drug war has shocked once-peaceful Ecuador with scenes of horrific violence.

CRIME & SECURITY

Authorities identify substance cut with ‘contaminated cocaine’ that killed victims

12-02-2022 08:55 ‘Laced cocaine’ that killed 24 people in Buenos Aires Province was cut with carfentanil, a derivative of fentanyl and a powerful opiate.

CENTRAL AMERICA

Honduras political crisis deepens ahead of president-elect's swearing-in

25-01-2022 18:18 Argentina's Vice-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner due to attend president-elect Xiomara's Castro's swearing-in ceremony in two days.

DRUG-TRAFFICKING

Russian court jails four in 2018 Argentine embassy luggage cocaine case

20-01-2022 14:36 A Russian court on Thursday sentenced four men to lengthy jail terms for trying to smuggle nearly 400 kilogrammes of cocaine in suitcases from the Russian Embassy in Argentina.

CRIME & SECURITY

Ecuador's president declares state of emergency over drug violence

19-10-2021 09:13 Guillermo Lasso declares a state of emergency in the country grappling with a surge in drug-related violence and orders mobilisation of police and military.

COURTS, CRIME & SECURITY

Rosario drug gang leader given 22-year jail term in seventh trial

01-10-2021 20:57 Ariel Máximo ’Guille’ Cantero, head of Los Monos drug gang, convicted for instigating seven attacks on judicial buildings, homes of prosecutors and judges.

CRIME & SECURITY

Government to send 1,575 federal agents to Rosario

29-09-2021 10:38 Cabinet ministers confirm deployment of more than 1,500 new federal agents in Rosario, with officials declaring that “a solution must be found” to surge in drug-related violence.