News Archives - Diálogo Américas

Transnational Crime

From Assault Rifles to Phishing: Brazilian Criminal Groups Go Digital

Brazilian organized crime is expanding its operations from the physical world into cyberspace. Organizations such as the First Capital Command (PCC) are incorporating digital tools and methods into their criminal structures, leveraging their networks, financial resources, and logistical capabilities to diversify their activities and penetrate the illicit digital economy. Drug trafficking, extortion, and money laundering are now joined by phishing,…

November 13, 2026

Transnational Crime

Pimpinas and Pipelines: How Fuel Theft Sustains Colombia’s Criminal Economies

Criminal organizations in Colombia are exploiting the country’s hydrocarbon infrastructure to generate illicit revenue and sustain activities ranging from cocaine production to illegal mining. With crude oil and fuel theft causing substantial losses for the energy industry, the Colombian government has launched a renewed offensive targeting the networks responsible for stealing, transporting, and commercializing hydrocarbons. Colombia’s national oil company Ecopetrol…

November 13, 2026

Strategic Influence

Undersea Cable Security, a Strategic Priority for Latin America

As Chinese companies expand their role in the infrastructure that carries global digital communications, the United States is supporting alternatives for Central America and the Caribbean aimed at reducing dependence on untrusted providers for critical digital infrastructure. Washington plans to allocate nearly $176 million to replace aging telecommunications infrastructure, including undersea cables in Central America and the Caribbean, according to…

November 10, 2026

Transnational Crime

Ecuador Steps Up Offensive Against Illegal Gold and Transnational Crime Finances

Illegal gold mining has become part of broader extraction, logistics, commercialization, and financing networks linked to organized crime in Ecuador. Authorities are responding with operations against infrastructure, criminal investigations, financial tracking, and regional cooperation aimed at targeting not only extraction sites but also the networks that supply, transport, and commercialize the mineral. A report by the Pan American Development Foundation…

November 10, 2026

Transnational Crime

Guatemalan Gangs Deepen Role in Drug Trafficking

The Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18 are expanding their involvement in drug trafficking in Guatemala. Authorities have linked them to the purchase, distribution, and theft of cocaine and marijuana shipments. This shift is broadening the scope of investigations targeting the gangs. Commissioner David Custodio Boteo, director of Guatemala’s National Civil Police (PNC), told EFE that both groups “rip off”…

November 09, 2026

Transnational Crime

Beyond Lottery Scams: Cyber-Enabled Crime and the Evolution of Caribbean TCOs

The image of the Jamaican lottery scammer at work is by now all too familiar. He rings an elderly person living thousands of kilometers away and tells the unsuspecting victim that they have won millions of dollars, a luxury vehicle, or some other life-altering prize. The victim doesn’t ask how they have won a lottery or sweepstakes they never entered…

November 09, 2026

Security & Cooperation

Tracking Transnational Criminal Networks Across South America’s Borders

Transnational criminal organizations increasingly operate across multiple countries, linking drug trafficking to logistics networks, ports, financial facilitators, and money laundering mechanisms. A single organization may manage cocaine production in one country, transit through another, shipment through a South American port, and the laundering of proceeds in a fourth jurisdiction. To counter these networks, regional authorities are increasingly seeking to strengthen…

November 06, 2026

Security & Cooperation

Beyond the Horizon, Help Is Closer than It Seems

On the flight line at Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras, men and women loaded equipment into the belly of three CH-47 Chinooks. Their destination was Venezuela, where two powerful earthquakes had struck a day earlier and communities desperately needed help. Rather than having to make their way from thousands of miles away, the helicopters, crews, equipment, and the people…

November 04, 2026

Transnational Crime

Belize Unifies Command, Intelligence to Disrupt Gang Leadership

Belize is restructuring its response to criminal gang violence under a unified command, integrating intelligence, analysis, investigations, and law enforcement while expanding the use of data to anticipate crime rather than simply react to it. On July 3, 2026, the Belize Police Department created the Violence Prevention and Enforcement Team (VPAET), a national unit designed to coordinate efforts targeting high-risk…

November 04, 2026

Security & Cooperation

Colombia, US Launch Exercise Southern Vanguard 2027

Southern Vanguard 27 (SV27) began in Colombia, November 2, 2026. The exercise, which is scheduled to run until mid-November, brings together some 800 participants, including over 400 soldiers from the Colombian Army and about 350 U.S. military personnel. Pre-exercise activities began October 30 with an aeromedical evacuation scenario from Colombia’s Tolemaida Military Base to its Cavalry School in Bogotá. The…

November 03, 2026

Security & Cooperation

Shield of the Americas Aims to Disrupt Transnational Criminal Networks

Criminal organizations exploit national borders to move drugs, weapons, money, and people, build support networks, and shift their operations when authorities step up pressure. While these groups operate across multiple countries, security forces and judicial authorities remain bound by their respective jurisdictions. Bridging that gap is one of the main objectives of the Shield of the Americas. Fifteen governments participating…

November 02, 2026

Security & Cooperation

Bolivia, Brazil Close Gaps Exploited by Organized Crime Through Intelligence Sharing

Criminal organizations operating between Bolivia and Brazil exploit the countries’ extensive shared border to move drugs, people, and resources across jurisdictions. In response to this threat, both countries are strengthening intelligence sharing, police presence, and coordinated operations to reduce the operating space of networks such as the First Capital Command (PCC) and Red Command (CV). This cooperation gained new momentum…

October 30, 2026

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Special Report

Latin America’s vast river networks are playing an increasingly important role in organized crime logistics. From the Amazon Basin to the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway, thousands of miles of rivers and tributaries cross remote areas and border regions, linking zones of cocaine production, illegal mining, and illicit natural resource exploitation to Atlantic ports and international markets. Criminal […]