Crime & Justice 2025-09-05

Ecuador is deepening ties with the United States while managing infrastructure-for-loan deals with China that left the South American country in a strategic debt trap.

Crime & Justice 2025-09-04

Once alive with salsa and neon, Guayaquil's nightlife lies in ruins as cartel violence and extortion turn Ecuador's commercial hub into South America's deadliest city.

Crime & Justice 2025-08-18

Ecuador's gangs, fueled by corruption and its dollar economy, battle for control of drug routes. Preliminary probes link the latest killings to organized crime's bloody grip.

Crime & Justice 2025-08-11

With more than 4,051 murders in just five months, analysts warn it may be the deadliest start to a year in the nation's modern history.

Crime & Justice 2025-08-08

Washington accuses the Venezuelan strongman of leading a global cocaine ring and endangering US security.

Crime & Justice 2025-08-07

The wounding of a presidential hopeful, a teenage gunman and a rebel group threaten to unravel Colombia's fragile peace and revive ghosts of its violent past.

Crime & Justice 2025-08-06

Adolfo Macías is the first Ecuadorian extradited under a new law approved by referendum, marking a major step in the government's crackdown on powerful criminal gangs.

Crime & Justice 2025-07-21

As drug trafficking groups multiply, so does the bloodshed. The homicide rate in Ecuador rose from six per 100,000 residents in 2018 to 38 per 100,000 in 2024.

Crime & Justice 2025-04-29

In Ecuador, organized crime preys on girls, recruiting them into networks of sexual violence where criminal leaders treat them as property. Behind the surge in missing minors, a darker reality unfolds.

Crime & Justice 2025-04-28

Costa Rica faces a troubling shift as organized crime fuels a surge in homicides and drug trafficking. Foreign cartels and local gangs have driven violence to historic levels.