Transnational Crime Archives - Diálogo Américas

Colombia Targets Criminal Corridors Along Its Caribbean Coast

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…

September 11, 2026

Maritime Intelligence Tightens the Net on Drug Trafficking Routes

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…

September 10, 2026

Organized Crime Turns Legitimate Cargo into Chemical Pipeline for Narcotics

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…

September 04, 2026

From Evidence to Intelligence: Forensic Science Strengthens Fight Against Transnational Crime

Seizing drugs or arresting suspects can disrupt criminal operations, but dismantling transnational criminal networks requires something more enduring: evidence that connects crimes, weapons, drugs, and suspects across jurisdictions. Increasingly, forensic science is providing those connections, turning isolated investigations into intelligence that supports coordinated operations and stronger prosecutions. “Forensic science has become a strategic priority because it is a way to…

September 03, 2026

‘Ndrangheta in Ecuador: A Growing Threat to Regional Security

With global cocaine production reaching a record estimated 4,100 metric tons in 2024, Ecuador has emerged as one of the principal departure points for cocaine shipments bound for international markets. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the country seized nearly 300 metric tons of drugs in 2024 — one of the highest totals in the…

August 31, 2026

Why Guaviare Matters: FARC Dissident Rivalries Threaten Colombia’s Strategic Trafficking Corridors

The Colombian department of Guaviare has become one of the principal battlegrounds in the conflict between rival dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Rather than fighting over coca cultivation alone, the armed groups are competing for control of strategic trafficking corridors, criminal economies, and key logistics routes. Following the 2016 peace agreement, the FARC fighters who…

August 28, 2026

Ecuador: At the Heart of the Reconfiguration of Andean Illicit Corridors

The arrest in Ecuador of Luis Rolando Osorio Arévalo, alias Mison, accused by Colombian authorities of helping facilitate the expansion of Tren de Aragua in Bogotá, offered a glimpse into a broader transformation taking place across the Andes. Osorio was arrested in Ecuador following a coordinated operation between the security forces of Ecuador and Colombia and was transferred to Colombian…

August 25, 2026

Chile Exposes How Organized Crime Turns Stolen Copper into Transnational Revenue

Months of coordinated investigative work culminated in the largest seizure of stolen copper in Chile’s history. Operation High Voltage, carried out in April 2026 by the Investigative Police (PDI), the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Internal Revenue Service, and the National Customs Service, led to simultaneous raids on 49 locations across seven regions of the country. The operation resulted in the…

August 24, 2026

Inside the Pacific’s Criminal Network: How Drug Traffickers Exploit Ecuador’s Fishing Infrastructure

The convergence between Mexican cartels and Ecuadorian criminal organizations has evolved from a system of territorial alliances into a more flexible and decentralized transnational logistics network. While Mexican cartels once relied on local groups to move cocaine from the Colombian border to Ecuadorian ports, cooperation increasingly extends along the Eastern Pacific (EPAC) maritime corridor: Ecuadorian groups provide infrastructure, vessels, and…

August 21, 2026

Dominican Republic Strengthens Regional Leadership Against Transnational Crime

The Dominican Republic has emerged as one of the Caribbean’s key operational partners in the Americas Counter-Cartel Coalition and as a regional leader in multinational efforts to dismantle transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) that use Caribbean maritime corridors to move cocaine to North America and Europe. “The government of the Dominican Republic, through the National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD), the Attorney…

August 18, 2026

Operation PULPO Dismantles Pacific Threat Networks

Across the vital maritime transit zones of the Western Hemisphere, a new era of defense is being written. As transnational criminal organizations continue to adapt their methods and exploit maritime routes, regional partners and the United States have transitioned to a posture of active, relentless disruption. The strategic objective is clear: Apply unyielding systemic friction to the transnational threat networks…

August 17, 2026

The New Battle for Critical Minerals in the Amazon

In the Amazon, where criminal organizations have spent decades building networks dedicated to drug trafficking, illegal gold mining, and smuggling, a new economic frontier is emerging. As global demand rises for critical minerals used in batteries, semiconductors, defense systems, artificial intelligence, and clean energy technologies, resources such as coltan, cassiterite, nickel, lithium, niobium, and rare earth elements are becoming increasingly…