South America

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One Border, Different Threats: Colombia’s Evolving Security Strategy Along the Venezuelan Frontier

Along Colombia’s 2,219-kilometer border with Venezuela, the security challenge changes with the terrain. In Catatumbo, Colombian forces confront armed groups and the illicit economies that sustain them. Across La Guajira, long distances and open terrain make mobility and surveillance critical. Farther south, the rivers of Arauca and the Orinoquía become both transportation corridors and operational spaces. Colombia reinforced the frontier…

Central America

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Honduras Leads Maritime Counterdrug Effort During Operation Barracuda

Honduran security forces, working in close coordination with regional and U.S. partners, seized 2,560 kilograms of suspected cocaine and detained nine suspected smugglers during Operation Barracuda, a multinational maritime counterdrug operation conducted September 6–21, 2026. The operation underscored Honduras’s leadership in combating transnational criminal organizations and demonstrated how coordinated intelligence, aerial surveillance, and maritime capabilities strengthen regional efforts to disrupt…

Caribbean

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Operation Ultramar: Dominican Republic, US Disrupt Traffickers in the Central Caribbean

From August 15–28, 2026, the Dominican Republic and the United States combined intelligence, surveillance, maritime patrol aircraft, surface vessels, and partner-nation interdiction capabilities during Operation Ultramar, a coordinated counternarcotics effort in the Central Caribbean. The operation demonstrated how the Dominican Republic and the United States, supported by regional and international partners, can apply persistent systemic friction to transnational criminal organizations…

Spotlight Interviews

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Academia

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As Brazilian authorities dismantle giant Stolen Smartphones’ Racketeering Scheme, a possible Hezbollah connection emerges

Summary: On September 10, the Office of Public Prosecutions of the Brazilian state of São Paulo launched Operation Frankmobile. The target: a vast criminal network engaged in theft of thousands of mobile phones, extraction of personal information from the devices for the purpose of defrauding their owners, technical alteration of the stolen goods, and their resale as new phones. The…

Special Report

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Criminal Highways: How Latin America’s Rivers Fuel Transnational Crime

Latin America’s vast river networks are playing an increasingly important role in organized crime logistics. From the Amazon Basin to the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway, thousands of miles of rivers and tributaries cross remote areas and border regions, linking zones of cocaine production, illegal mining, and illicit natural resource exploitation to Atlantic ports and international markets. Criminal networks use these waterways to…

Photo Galleries

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