RIO RAIDS Shock over Brazil police 'torture, executions' in drug raid 27-05-2022 08:37 Bodies from a Rio de Janeiro police raid show signs of torture and summary execution, lawyers allege.
COLOMBIA ELECTIONS 2022 Colombia election front-runner Petro beefs up security over violence threat 12-05-2022 12:53 Colombia is the only major country in Latin America that’s never had a leftist leader, and polls suggest it’s about to get one in Gustavo Petro. That’s raising the campaign temperature in a country with a history of political violence.
JUJUY'S CANNABIS HARVEST Jujuy prepares for ‘largest medicinal cannabis harvest’ in Latin America 27-04-2022 17:01 Jujuy Province Governor Gerardo Morales helps get “largest Latin American harvest” of cannabis grown for medicinal purposes underway; State-run firm Cannava has 80,000 plants over 35 hectares, which will help produce 25,000 kilogrammes of “pharmaceutical grade flower.”
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 Contaminated cocaine: Investigators switch focus to different drug gang 25-02-2022 17:27 Investigators believe gang led by convicted drug-trafficker Miguel Ángel 'Mameluco' Villalba is linked to the sale of tainted cocaine that killed 24 people last month.
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.
CRIME & SECURITY Contaminated cocaine: Authorities probing six new hospitalisations in Rosario 07-02-2022 15:14 Authorities are investigating whether the hospitalisation of six people in the city of Rosario is linked to the contaminated cocaine tragedy that has already taken 24 lives.
CRIME & SECURITY ‘Laced cocaine’ tragedy exposes reality of drug trade in Argentina 07-02-2022 14:49 Expert prosecutor Mónica Cuñarro says drug business “diversified and atomised” during the coronavirus pandemic, creating the conditions for last week's tragedy.
CRIME & SECURITY Death toll from laced cocaine tragedy climbs to 24 04-02-2022 22:58 At least 24 people have died and more than 200 have sought medical attention in Buenos Aires Province after consuming cocaine that prosecutors believe was cut with a toxic substance.
'LACED COCAINE' CRIME ‘I’m hoping for a miracle’ – Families of cocaine victims appeal for help 04-02-2022 02:47 Families of the “contaminated cocaine” victims plead with the authorities for help, asking that the tragedy “serves” to help addicts.
CRIME & SECURITY Eight killed, 14 hospitalised from 'cocaine intoxication' in Buenos Aires Province 02-02-2022 15:12 Ten people died, 14 others hospitalised in Hurlingham, Tres de Febrero and San Martín as a result of cocaine consumption. Authorities probing if substance sold as drug was 'adulterated' or laced with poison.
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.
MARADONA ALLEGATIONS Cuban woman alleges Maradona abused and raped her 23-11-2021 10:17 Mavys Álvarez Rego, a 37-year-old Cuban woman who had an affair with Diego Maradona as a minor 20 years ago, accuses late footballer and his entourage of violence and abuse, including rape and holding her against her will.
IN FOCUS Drugs, crime and protests: Ecuador stares into the abyss 25-10-2021 12:44 Emboldened drug traffickers, hundreds of deaths in prisons, a government dogged by scandal, and an economy ravaged by Covid have Ecuador staring into the abyss.
EX-INTEL CHIEF Spain court suspends extradition of Venezuela ex-intel chief 22-10-2021 12:59 Spain's top criminal court on Friday suspended the extradition of Venezuela's former intelligence chief, General Hugo Armando Carvajal, to the United States where he is wanted on drug-trafficking charges.
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.
DRUG VIOLENCE IN ROSARIO Aníbal Fernández hints at measures to tackle drug violence surge in Rosario 27-09-2021 13:49 Security Minister Aníbal Fernández says "important announcements" are on the way to tackle uptick in drug-related violence in Rosario.
LONG READ Colombia's illicit coca economy helps communities thrive 03-09-2021 00:01 In the mountains and jungles of southwestern Colombia, peasants and migrantstoil determinedly in fields of coca despite the dangers and persecution they suffer.
Human rights Regional human rights body slams Ecuador over prison deaths 23-08-2021 20:39 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights condemns violence in Ecuadorean prisons that has left 121 inmates dead this year.
POLICE OPERATION At least 25 killed in police drug raid in Rio slum, says Brazilian media 06-05-2021 15:45 A massive police operation against drug-traffickers in a Rio de Janeiro favela Thursday left at least 24 suspects and a policeman dead, according to reports.
LEGAL MARIJUANA IN MEXICO? Mexico prepares for legal marijuana gold rush 18-03-2021 11:52 Mexican lawmakers are close to approving legalisation that is expected to catapult the country's regulated cannabis trade into a billion-dollar legal marijuana market.
OBITUARY: DIEGO MARADONA (1960-2020) Maradona: the icon who lead Argentina to glory 28-11-2020 08:41 Diego Maradona was arguably the greatest football player ever. Despite his flaws and demons, he was worshiped in Argentina.
DIEGO ARMANDO MARADONA (1960-2020) Maradona: Out of this world 28-11-2020 07:35 Diego Armando Maradona, the popular icon that Argentina was crying out for, blessed us mortals with 60 years in his magnetic presence. But now, the ‘Cosmic Kite’ has finally been called back to his home planet. by Dan Edwards
CRIME & SECURITY Sister of River Plate midfielder in custody after police stop uncovers 40kg of cocaine 23-11-2020 14:48 An elder sister of River Plate midfielder Nicolás De La Cruz was in Buenos Aires on Saturday while travelling in a taxi. Police officers find 40 kilogrammes of cocaine in vehicle.
Global pandemic Trump, still infectious, back at White House — without a mask 06-10-2020 08:11 US President Donald Trump staged a dramatic return to the White House after leaving the military hospital where he was receiving an unprecedented level of care for Covid-19.
CRIME & SECURITY Crime spirals out of control in troubled Rosario 05-10-2020 00:01 Rosario, Argentina’s third-largest city, has been suffering for years from escalating violence and the proliferation of drug gangs.
Murders in Colombia Wave of massacres signals new chapter in Colombia's conflict 23-09-2020 17:35 Rather than a national dispute between guerrillas and the state, violence in rural Colombia is now marked by a patchwork of local feuds between criminal groups who fight over drug routes, illegal mines and even gasoline smuggling routes.
Interpol operation Mafia fugitives arrested in Palermo in drug-smuggling sting 24-07-2020 16:42 Three alleged members of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta mafia organisation were arrested in Buenos Aires last week and are now being processed for extradition to Italy. The sting was part of a larger Interpol investigation of 45 members of the organisation who are spread across the world.