• Curbing Violence in Latin America’s Drug Trafficking Hotspots (International Crisis Group, Tuesday, March 11, 2025).

“For drug-related crime, state capture is an essential element of doing business. It guarantees that all stages of the logistics chain run with limited risk of seizure or arrest.” Meanwhile, “Mexico is now Latin America’s emblematic case of corruption and co-option by organised crime.”

• La Presunta Sombra de Disidencia de Arana en Eleccion de Nuevo Gobernador de Putumayo (El Espectador (Colombia), Sunday, February 23, 2025).

The winner of a special gubernatorial election in Colombia’s southern department of Putumayo, a major coca-producing zone, faces “allegations of alleged support for his campaign from questionable politicians and of alleged support from the Comandos de la Frontera, a FARC dissident group that controls a large part of Putumayo.”

• Will Freeman, Latin American Organized Crime’s Real Target: Local Government (Council on Foreign Relations, Americas Quarterly, Tuesday, February 18, 2025).

Argues that Latin America’s criminal organizations now seek relationships at the local level—states/provinces or municipalities/counties—rather than seek to corrupt the topmost levels of government.

Laura Sanchez Ley, Agente Fronterizo de Eu Hacia Tours para ‘Coyotes’ (Milenio (Mexico), Tuesday, February 18, 2025).

Héctor Hernández, a Border Patrol agent in San Diego, allegedly gave Tijuana migrant smugglers “tours” of the border showing them the best sites for crossing migrants, charging them “$5,000 per tour and entry.” That ended in 2023 when Hernández gave a “tour” to an undercover Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent.