Index/Organizations/InSight Crime

InSight Crime

Organized crime investigative nonprofit

Fact-Checks

45 results
Nov 25, 2025
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How do Venezuelan drug gangs use go-fast boats to reach Caribbean islands?

Venezuelan-linked smugglers use fast, open-hulled fishing skiffs—commonly called go-fast boats—to ferry cocaine and other contraband to nearby Caribbean islands such as Trinidad and hops across the Ea...

Dec 3, 2025
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What maritime routes do Venezuelan drug traffickers use to reach the United States?

Venezuelan-linked traffickers have been implicated in maritime flows across both the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, using coastal hubs like Sucre and Margarita Island and routes toward the Eastern Car...

Dec 5, 2025
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Which country is the largest source of cocaine entering the United States?

Recent government and reporting data point to Colombia as the principal source of cocaine that reaches the United States: UN and Reuters reporting says Colombia was the source for most drugs crossing ...

Nov 28, 2025

What evidence links Nicolás Maduro or senior Venezuelan officials to organized drug trafficking networks?

U.S. authorities have repeatedly accused Nicolás Maduro and senior Venezuelan officials of running or enabling large-scale drug trafficking—charging Maduro with “narco‑terrorism,” placing bounties up ...

Dec 4, 2025

What percentage of cocaine seized in the US is traced to Venezuela in 2024-2025?

Available reporting does not give a single, authoritative percentage for “what share of cocaine seized in the US is traced to Venezuela in 2024–2025.” Major U.S. and international reports cited in the...

Dec 4, 2025

How much cocaine is seized off Venezuela annually and which years show increases?

Estimates and reporting put the annual volume of cocaine transiting Venezuela in the rough range of 200–250 metric tons in recent years, a figure the U.S. State Department first cited for 2020 and tha...

Nov 28, 2025

Which Venezuelan officials have been sanctioned or indicted by the U.S. for drug-related crimes?

The United States has both indicted and sanctioned multiple high‑level Venezuelan officials on drug‑related charges: the Justice Department unsealed indictments charging Nicolás Maduro and 14 current ...

Nov 17, 2025

How has the Maduro regime facilitated drug trafficking in Venezuela?

Allegations and investigations across U.S. agencies, international press and long-form reporting say members of Venezuela’s state apparatus — especially military officers and some senior officials — h...

Dec 7, 2025

What trends in Venezuelan cocaine production and trafficking were reported in 2024 and 2025?

Reporting from 2024–2025 shows competing pictures: some monitors and Venezuelan authorities recorded large seizure figures (Transparencia Venezuela cited “more than 848 tons” seized in 2024) while ind...

Nov 14, 2025

How do Venezuelan cartels use boats for smuggling operations?

Boats have long been a key tool in the movement of illicit drugs from South America, and reporting shows Venezuelan coastal towns and criminal groups are part of that maritime ecosystem — but the pict...

Dec 14, 2025

How do crime rates in San Salvador compare to other Central American capitals?

San Salvador (and El Salvador broadly) has seen a dramatic fall in homicides since 2015 — official figures and analysts place national homicide rates at about 1.9 per 100,000 in 2024 and even lower by...

Nov 2, 2025

What evidence is there of Venezuelan government officials being involved in drug smuggling operations?

The assembled evidence includes formal U.S. criminal indictments unsealed in March 2020 charging President Nicolás Maduro and 14 current or former Venezuelan officials with , alleging a long‑running p...

Dec 11, 2025

How do Venezuelan drug traffickers use small islands and cays for cocaine transshipment?

Venezuelan islands and cays — including Margarita and the Los Roques archipelago — are documented transshipment nodes used to move Colombian cocaine onward to the Caribbean, Europe and the U.S., in pa...

Nov 16, 2025

How do drug traffickers use the Caribbean and Central American coastlines to move narcotics northward?

Drug traffickers use the Caribbean and Central American coastlines as transit and transshipment zones—exploiting long, sparsely patrolled coastlines, many small islands, and weak state capacity—to mov...

Nov 14, 2025

What chemicals and precursors are used in clandestine fentanyl production?

Law enforcement and international agencies say clandestine fentanyl manufacture relies on a shifting set of precursor chemicals — historically N‑phenethyl‑4‑piperidone (NPP) and aniline derivative ANP...

Dec 1, 2025

How many kilograms of cocaine have been seized from vessels departing Venezuela in the past 12 months?

Available sources do not provide a single, authoritative tally of kilograms of cocaine seized specifically from vessels departing Venezuela in the past 12 months; reporting and datasets instead give s...

Nov 26, 2025

How have Colombian and Venezuelan drug routes changed since Maduro took power?

Since Nicolás Maduro’s rule (post-2013 and prominent through 2025) reporting and analysis say Venezuelan territory and officials increasingly figure in U.S. allegations about drug transit and state-li...

Dec 18, 2025

What evidence has been publicly released linking Venezuelan state actors to organized drug trafficking networks?

Publicly released evidence tying Venezuelan state actors to organized drug trafficking is substantial but heterogeneous: it includes U.S. indictments and criminal charges, leaked investigative documen...

Dec 14, 2025

San salvador crime rate

San Salvador and El Salvador have seen a dramatic fall in homicides: official and analyst data show the national homicide rate dropped to about 1.9 per 100,000 in 2024 (114 homicides) and to roughly 1...

Dec 3, 2025

How do seizure totals at Venezuelan ports compare to those in Colombia and Ecuador for shipments bound for the U.S.?

Available reporting shows Colombia is by far the dominant source of cocaine interdicted en route to the United States, while Ecuador and Venezuela account for smaller shares and often serve as transit...