How Organized Crime Is Evolving in Latin America: 2025 Edition

Organized crime is a persistent and evolving challenge in Latin America. At the moment crime syndicates are seeing unprecedented financial gains, fueled not only by a surge in cocaine production—more than doubling in the past decade, according to the UN—but also by profits from illegal gold mining and human trafficking. As security concerns rise, these issues are set to play a crucial role in elections in Ecuador, Honduras, Chile, and Colombia. Meanwhile, the U.S. government, under President Donald Trump, has been pressuring Mexico to curb drug and migrant trafficking, going so far as to impose tariffs on its neighbor. In this episode, we look at how organized crime is shifting in Latin America in 2025. Our guest, Jeremy McDermott, co-founder of InSight Crime.