Think of the drug trade, and you might think of rigid hierarchies run by drug lords like Pablo Escobar or Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Today, the reality is far more complex.
NarcoFiles is the largest investigative project on organized crime to originate in Latin America.
Drug traffickers are redrawing the map of the cocaine trade for the 21st century: Cultivation is spreading further north, into Central America, while processing labs are jumping across the Atlantic to Europe and beyond.
After emerging from a Venezuelan prison, the ‘Tren de Aragua’ gang has spread to half a dozen countries, bringing kidnapping, drug trafficking, and contract killings with it. Now, there are signs the gang may also be spreading to the U.S.
The names of more than 100 agents for the U.S. drug agency and other federal law enforcement entities were revealed in a massive leak of emails and other data from the Colombian prosecutor’s office.
Europe’s commercial ports are top entry points for cocaine flooding in at record rates. The work of a Dutch hacker, who was hired by drug traffickers to penetrate port IT networks, reveals how this type of smuggling has become easier than ever.
In 2021, Colombian authorities seized a large shipment of illegal shark fins destined for Hong Kong. A company owned by the son of the former head of the Cali Cartel had sent the package to Bogotá.
Leaked documents provide a rare window into a little-known program in which U.S. and other foreign law enforcement agencies work with Colombian counterparts to obtain and ship large quantities of cocaine around the world as part of efforts to infiltrate trafficking gangs.
Over 40 media partners on three continents spent a year delving into the NarcoFiles. Here are the stories they found.
Miami Herald
Cocaine Is Now King in Oil-Rich Venezuela
piauí
The Amazonian Routes of Brazil's PCC Crime Group
UOL
The Rebels That Dominate the Brazil-Colombia Drug Connection
Verdad Abierta
Colombia: Macaco’s Submission to “Justice and Peace” Falters
Vorágine
Medellin: The Old French Mafia Boss Connection to a Foreigner Gone Missing
Vorágine
Colombia: Businessman Paid to Erase His Murky Past
Irpimedia
Bananas & cocaine: the Clan del Golfo and ‘Ndrangheta alliance
Quinto Elemento Lab
Mexican cartels' global expansion
El Universal
The Worldwide Expansion of Mexican Cartels: Brokers, Nearshoring, and Know-How
El Nuevo Herald
Cartel Del Sol Chronicles I
InSight Crime
Suriname: Power and Cocaine
InSight Crime
Israeli Mobsters in Colombia
Knack
The Narco Files: All You Need to Know
Knack
First ever cocaine production lab discovered in Belgium
Knack
Belgian Guns and Colombian Narcos
Die Dunkelkammer
Europe, the Cartels’ new cocaine kitchen
Narcodiario
Turbo-Guayaquil-Spain: the Cocaine Triangle
De Tijd
The Belgian Cocaine Hub
De Tijd
Belgium leading role in NarcoFiles
Vorágine
‘Narco-bananas’ were exported through a company owned by the relatives of a former minister
Vorágine
Colombian singer’s father alleged links with a criminal organization
Vorágine
Colombia: narco-paramilitary land dealings in a university classroom
Cuestión Pública
Drug trafficking and organized crime in Colombia's local elections
Expresso
Colombia's Clan Del Golfo Ignored African Connections
CNN en Español
Tren de Aragua: The Venezuelan Gang Storming South America
Narcodiario
Spain: The Meeting Point of Global Organized Crime
Narcodiario
Spain receives, produces and processes cocaine for Europe
InfoLibre
Spain: Welcome to Lab Land
Narcodiario
Dubai: Where The Crime Bosses Fly Free
InfoLibre
Dubai: Crime Bosses' Safe Zone
Plaza Pública
Guatemala: Entering the Club of Coca Producers
Agencia Ocote
Coca Crops and Labs: Guatemala, the New Narco Territory
Con Criterio
Coca Expansion in Guatemala
NoFicción
How Guatemala Became a Cocaine Paste Producer
Ojoconmipisto
Cocaine Relocation: How Guatemala Became a Producer
De Tijd
How Italy's 'Ndrangheta Floods Antwerp With Cocaine
De Tijd
How Colombian Cartels Get Their hands on Belgian Weapons
El Universal
From Poppy to Coca: The New Crops in Guerrero
OjoPúblico
Armed Groups From Colombia Infiltrate the Peruvian Amazon
Ojo Público
Tren de Aragua: The Evolution of a Crime Megafranchise in Peru
Knack
Antwerp: The Italian 'Ndrangheta's Base
Univisión
Mexican Cartels' Tentacles in Colombia
Der Standard
How Europe is being flooded with cocaine
SVT
Cocaine cooks flown to Europe
Berlingske
The narco-Hydra storming Europe
CNN en Español
The Tren de Aragua Assault on the ELN Guerrilla
El Universal
El Mayo's and Los Cuinis' Envoys in Colombia
El Universal
Pacific Deliver: 10 days at Sea to Ship Cocaine
El Universal
The Cocaine Broker that Links Four Continents
Quinto Elemento Lab
The Zetas' “Brand” in Colombia
InfoLibre
From the Amazon to the Rías Baixas by Narcosubmarine
Narcodiario
Alleged Galician Kingpin Ships Cocaine to Spain in Semi-submersibles
Knack
The 20 Cocaine Labs Discovered in Belgium
Contracorriente
Cultivating Coca and Formenting Fear in Honduras
El Universal
The secret documents that involve the Mexican government with controlled deliveries
Voragine
Banana company that financed politician is targeted for cocaine shipments to Italian mafia
La Prensa
How fortunes were hidden in Colombia with Mossack Fonseca's help
Quinto Elemento Lab
Mexico: The Murky Links of an Investment Company
Mexicanos Contra la Corrupción y la Impunidad (MCCI)
The Hidden Ties of a Mexican Financial Company
Aristegui Noticias
The Shady Connections of an Investment Firm in Mexico
Noticias Caracol
Odebrecht's Murky Lobbyists
Profil
Odebrecht: Why Colombian Prosecutors Reached Out to Austria
La Prensa
U.S.-backed money-laundering unit in Colombia stalled
Cuestión Pública
Company involved in Odebrecht case new contractor for a mega project
Vorágine
The Story of the Hooded Man From Medellín's Operation Orion
Cerosetenta / 070
Colombia: The Loose Ends of a Crime Against a Student Leader
BIRD
Weapons, Drugs and State Security: The Bulgaria-Colombia Express
Miami Herald
DEA agents face risk of exposure in Colombian leak
Knack
More Gun Violence, Less Belgian Police Specialists
Vorágine
Colombian governor under investigation for alleged extrajudicial execution
