South America

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Guatemala’s Drug Route: The New Geography of Organized Crime

Although Guatemala remains one of Central America’s main cocaine transit countries, it is playing an increasingly strategic role in regional synthetic drug supply chains, reflecting the transformation of global drug trafficking. Its location along major regional and international trade routes has made it a link between Asian producers of chemical precursors, clandestine laboratories in Mexico, and the North American market.…

Central America

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Central America Strengthens Aerial Surveillance Against Transnational Crime

Central American security forces are incorporating unmanned aerial systems and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities to counter increasingly mobile and technologically sophisticated criminal organizations. These tools expand surveillance over borders, coastlines, and remote forested areas, at a time when criminal networks themselves are also using drones to monitor their surroundings, transport illicit goods, and support other illegal activities. Situational…

Caribbean

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Caribbean Integrates Citizen Reporting into Regional Intelligence

Criminal organizations operating in the Caribbean exploit maritime routes, illicit markets, and multiple jurisdictions to move drugs, weapons, and other illegal goods. Against networks that operate across national borders, information provided by local communities can become an operational asset when it is protected, evaluated, and connected with data from other countries. With that goal in mind, the Caribbean Community Implementation…

Spotlight Interviews

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Academia

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Advanced Capabilities Needed to Counter China-Russia Space Weapon Cooperation

This article was originally published on U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s Magazine Forum, on August 3, 2026. China and Russia are expanding cooperation on space capabilities to degrade, disrupt or destroy military satellites as well as commercial constellations such as SpaceX’s Starlink. Beijing and Moscow are sharing expertise, coordinating policies and investing in counterspace options that go beyond traditional anti-satellite (ASAT) missiles.…

Branching Out: Latin American Drug Cartels Expand into Other Illegal Schemes

This article was originally published in U.S. Northern Command’s Magazine The Watch, on July 2, 2026. Latin America’s transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) have been diversifying, finding new ways to make money in addition to producing, selling, and transporting illicit drugs. The many tentacles of their businesses extend to human trafficking and migration; illegal logging, fishing and gold mining; protection rackets;…

Special Report

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Ecuador at the Crossroads of Transnational Crime: Violence, Criminal Reconfiguration, and Regional Challenges – PART II

For decades, Ecuador was perceived as an exception in a region plagued by drug trafficking, armed violence, and criminal capture of the state. While neighboring countries faced open wars between cartels and state forces, Ecuador seemed to remain on the sidelines of these dynamics. That image began to slowly crack and finally collapsed in January 2024, when President Daniel Noboa…

Photo Galleries

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