Mapping and Profiling the Most Threatening Criminal Networks in Latin America and the Caribbean- EL PAcCTO

Mapping and Profiling the Most Threatening Criminal Networks in Latin America and the Caribbean is by Jeremy McDermott and Steven Dudley, co-Funders and co-Directors of InSight Crime.

This report was funded by the European Union. It was produced with the contribution of the following institutions: Expertise France, InSight Crime, European Multidisciplinary Platform against Criminal Threats – EMPACT.

EL PAcCTO(Europe Latin America Programme of Assistance against Transnational Organised Crime) is an international cooperation programme funded by the European Union that seeks to contribute to security and justice in Latin America by supporting the fight against transnational organised crime. In its intervention, EL PAcCTO addresses the entire criminal chain from an integral perspective through its work in three components: police, justice and penitentiary.

EL PAcCTO 2.0 is an international cooperation program funded by the European Union, aiming to strengthen the rule of law and combat transnational organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The 28 Criminal Networks Mapped in this Report:

1. ALVARADO CLAN
2. BARRIO 18
3. CARTEL OF THE SUNS (CARTEL DE LOS SOLES)
4. CASTEDO CLAN
5. CENTRAL GENERAL STAFF (ESTADO MAYOR CENTRAL – EMC)
6. CONQUERING SELF-DEFENSE FORCES OF THE SIERRA NEVADA (AUTODEFENSAS CONQUISTADORES DE LA SIERRA NEVADA- ACSN)
7. FAMILIA MICHOACANA
8. FIRST CAPITAL COMMAND (PRIMEIRO COMANDO DA CAPITAL – PCC)
9. FIRST URUGUAYAN CARTEL
10. GAITANIST SELF-DEFENSE FORCES OF COLOMBIA (AUTODEFENSAS GAITANISTAS DE COLOMBIA – AGC)
11. GULF CARTEL (CARTEL DEL GOLFO – CDG)
12. JALISCO CARTEL NEW GENERATION (CARTEL DE JALISCO NUEVA GENERACIÓN – CJNG)
13. MARA SALVATRUCHA – MS13
14. NATIONAL LIBERATION ARMY (EJÉRCITO DE LIBERACIÓN NACIONAL – ELN)
15. OFICINA DE ENVIGADO
16. RED COMMAND (COMANDO VERMELHO – CV)
17. ROGER KHAN NETWORK
18. ROTELA CLAN
19. SECOND MARQUETALIA (SEGUNDA MARQUETALIA)
20. SHINING PATH (SENDERO LUMINOSO)
21. SINALOA CARTEL
22. THE CHONEROS (LOS CHONEROS)
23. THE HUISTAS (LOS HUISTAS)
24. THE LOBOS (LOS LOBOS)
25. THE MONOS (LOS MONOS)
26. TREN DE ARAGUA
27. TREN DEL LLANO
28. YOUNG FAITH

Introduction:

“Connections between European and Latin American criminal networks have surged in recent years, with drugs, gold, and human trafficking proving particularly lucrative in the European market.

The number of European citizens linked to criminal networks arrested in Latin America has increased significantly, especially in Colombia, Peru, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Argentina. The strengthening alliance between Latin American and European crime groups now poses a global threat.

Today’s Latin America’s major criminal networks, unlike the cartels of the 1980s, operate in a world of subcontracting. Groups, or nodes in the network, often specialize in specific roles or stages of the supply chain. If a node is targeted by law enforcement, the network can quickly adjust and reconfigure itself, ensuring efficiency and the uninterrupted flow of criminal commodities.

These networks pose a serious threat to the rule of law, subverting it by establishing social norms through violence to exercise control with different forms of criminal governance. In Latin America and the Caribbean, they pose the single biggest threat to democracy in the region, using corruption to penetrate the state, and violence where bribery fails. This means it is the primary motor for human rights abuses and homicides. Corruption, like cancer, is spreading through state institutions in many nations of the region. Additionally, these networks harm economic stability development, distorting local economies, deterring foreign investment and affecting international financing.

Studying these networks is crucial to understanding the flow of illicit goods from Latin America to Europe, and essential to crafting effective strategies to combat these structures. After an analysis of different variables such as their criminal economies, geographical distribution or state response, EL PACCTO 2.0 and InSight Crime, with the support of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT), particularly within the Operational Action 8.3, of the High Risk Criminal Networks EMPACT, have ranked the 28 most active or relevant high-risk criminal networks in Latin America and the Caribbean, identifying key factors about their operations that reveal potential opportunities for combating organized crime in the region. This work has direct implications for both Latin America and Europe.

The list ranges from criminal networks with thousands of members to small brokers or gangs operating in Latin American countries, Caribbean islands or in Central America. In addition, the current report has sought to identify the connections or influence that high-risk criminal networks may have in different countries. This has led to the creation of a specific file for each criminal network with a specific individual map. Likewise, an aggregate map of all the information on the 28 criminal networks has been designed to provide a global overview.”

Methodology:

“Criminal groups and network nodes were selected from countries including Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and the Caribbean.

This analysis employed an adapted version of InSight Crime’s methodology, designed to identify, analyse, profile, and evaluate each transnational organized crime actor based on their capabilities and complexity across various variables.

The variables considered for this study were history, geography, criminal economies, structure and leadership, state response, criminal governance, and positions in criminal networks.

• History: This indicator outlines the criminal group or network’s evolution, highlighting key moments in its development and consolidation over illicit economies between Latin America and other regions.
• Geography: This examines the presence of criminal networks or groups in critical locations for illegal economies, including drug trafficking, illegal mining, environmental crimes, and more.
• Criminal Economies: This specifies the primary illicit economies in which the criminal group or network is involved, including its level of control and influence in these markets. Additionally, it assesses how the group’s participation in specific illicit economies facilitates connections between Latin America and Europe.
• Structure and Leadership: This variable analyses the internal organization of the criminal group or network and how it has contributed to its consolidation in the criminal structure of a country or region. It also identifies the main leaders and their relationship with the broader organization.
• State response: This section evaluates each government’s response to a criminal network or group, as well as the types of measures that have proven successful or unsuccessful in confronting the organization.
• Criminal governance: This variable explores the networks’ presence in territories, often including their interference in various aspects of residents’ daily lives, as they frequently assume roles typically associated with the state.
• Positions in criminal networks: This analyzes each group’s role within larger criminal networks and the key alliances they have forged, linking Latin American and European criminality. Each of these indicators contains key information for understanding the scope of a group’s influence within its country of origin and internationally, its participation in illegal transnational economies, the adaptation of its internal operations to maximize profits, and its main alliances, among other aspects.

Additionally, a gender perspective was incorporated into the profile analysis, offering a deeper look into issues such as roles within the organization and the differential impacts of these networks’ violent actions on men, women, and people with diverse sexual identities.”