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Brazil’s two largest criminal organizations, the First Capital Command (PCC) and the Red Command (CV), have expanded their transnational reach by building relationships with local criminal groups and gaining access to different stages of the cocaine supply chain. In the tri-border region connecting the Colombian, Peruvian, and Brazilian Amazons, the most visible expansion has been that of CV, which has…
Transnational criminal organizations are expanding across Latin America at a pace that increasingly challenges the ability of individual countries to respond. They manage integrated illicit supply chains, control logistics corridors that span multiple borders, and exploit differences in national legislation, judicial systems, and border controls, making purely national responses increasingly inadequate. The 2025 Global Organized Crime Index ranks several South…
The Colombian armed group Comandos de La Frontera (CDF) has expanded its relationships and logistical networks in Ecuador through an alliance with Ecuadorian gang Los Lobos. Together, the groups have become part of a transnational criminal system that moves cocaine and other illicit goods between southern Colombia, Ecuador’s Amazon region, and ports on the Pacific coast. The CDF emerged following…
For transnational criminal organizations, Ecuador’s northern border remains a strategic corridor for drug trafficking, illicit arms trafficking, illegal mining, and other illicit economies. The Secure Border strategy, developed by Ecuador and the United States, seeks to reduce those opportunities by integrating intelligence, risk analysis, interagency coordination, and operational capabilities while supporting legitimate trade and strengthening security for border communities. Ecuador…
The expansion of Tren de Aragua (TdA), the Venezuelan criminal organization that consolidated in Tocorón prison during the 2010s, has now reached Brazil. Designated a transnational terrorist organization by several countries in the region, the group is currently present across much of the hemisphere, as well as in Europe. Initially, the group established itself along the border in the state…
Although Guatemala remains one of Central America’s main cocaine transit countries, it is playing an increasingly strategic role in regional synthetic drug supply chains, reflecting the transformation of global drug trafficking. Its location along major regional and international trade routes has made it a link between Asian producers of chemical precursors, clandestine laboratories in Mexico, and the North American market.…
Designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in February 2025, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) has continued to project its influence beyond Mexico’s borders, even after its longtime leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, was killed on February 22, 2026, in an operation by Mexican Army Special Forces (SEDENA) in Tapalpa, Jalisco state. The…
Criminal organizations operating in the Caribbean exploit maritime routes, illicit markets, and multiple jurisdictions to move drugs, weapons, and other illegal goods. Against networks that operate across national borders, information provided by local communities can become an operational asset when it is protected, evaluated, and connected with data from other countries. With that goal in mind, the Caribbean Community Implementation…
Six maritime interdictions in less than two weeks in the Eastern Pacific are putting the spotlight on a critical part of Los Choneros’ drug trafficking infrastructure: the vessels that supply criminal networks at sea and allow them to operate across vast stretches of ocean. On August 28 and September 2, 3, 5, 7, and 8, U.S. forces interdicted Ecuadorian vessels…
Recent Colombian Army operations in northern Colombia underscore the Caribbean’s strategic importance to the criminal organizations operating in the country. Controlling coastal corridors, transportation routes, and maritime departure points remains one of these groups’ primary objectives, while the Colombian government combines intelligence, sustained territorial presence, and international cooperation to restrict their freedom of movement. On June 15, the Colombian Army…
Every year, tons of cocaine cross the Atlantic concealed within legitimate cargo. To detect these shipments before they reach their destination, authorities increasingly rely on maritime intelligence sharing — a key tool for identifying suspicious vessels and tracking the criminal networks that exploit international trade routes. An analysis by EU Today examined drug trafficking cases involving refrigerated cargo vessels and…
Transnational criminal organizations are refining methods to conceal drugs within legitimate commercial cargo. The discovery in Brazil of cocaine chemically impregnated into timber illustrates the growing challenge these techniques pose to custom authorities and the security of global supply chains. In June, Brazilian authorities intercepted a shipment of Bolivian timber suspected of containing cocaine chemically embedded in the wood. According…
