Browsing: Transnational Crime

In a relentless demonstration of multinational capability, the United States and Colombia executed Operation Tridente (Trident) in April, targeting key maritime smuggling routes in the Eastern Pacific and reinforcing a clear message: Narcoterrorist networks can no longer rely on maritime borders to escape justice. Coordinated by U.S. Southern Command’s (SOUTHCOM) Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S) which brings together a…

Approximately $400 billion is laundered each year in Latin America through activities such as corruption, tax evasion, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and the use of shell companies. Although efforts to combat money laundering has improved over the years, progress remains uneven across the region. Countries collectively still rank below the global average according to the Basel 2025 Index, which measures…

Drug-related violence in Bolivia is escalating, with executions and score-settling highlighting intensifying competition for international trafficking corridors. These dynamics are increasingly linked to disputes over access to routes and control of cocaine flows, rather than isolated criminal acts. This trend reflects greater coordination among transnational networks, as international cooperation efforts aim to contain its impact on regional security. “Homicides —…

A newly formalized intelligence-sharing agreement between Colombia and Brazil is already translating into operational gains across the Amazon, as both countries deepen coordination against narcotrafficking and illegal mining along their shared waterways. Colombia and Brazil have formalized procedures for the exchange of intelligence information through a bilateral protocol supported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The…

Paraguay is intensifying its fight against transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) through a strategy that emphasizes cross-border coordination, interagency cooperation, and sustained security operations in key frontier regions. At the center of this effort is Operation Escudo Guaraní, a large-scale, ongoing deployment with no fixed end date, mobilizing thousands of military and law enforcement personnel to disrupt drug trafficking networks, dismantle…

The Colombian Amazon faces a paradox: While farmers lack road infrastructure to transport legal products, a growing network of informal trails — precarious, unpaved rural roads — has proliferated across the region. Authorities warn that many of these routes have become logistical corridors for transnational criminal economies, used to transport drugs, supplies for coca production, illegally mined gold, and other…