Riviera Maya Gang

A former member of the Riviera Maya gang was stabbed in Mexico by his onetime comrades. The Mexican prosecutor who led the investigation didn’t even look into them as suspects. Now, it turns out, they may have been paying him off.

As the seemingly endless legal case of one alleged key lieutenant drags on, we investigate the gang’s operations and investments in the poorly policed border area between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.

Most investigations of transnational criminal networks follow a known group or commodity such as the Italian Camorra, Chinese triads, or rhino or elephant poachers. By having a focus on key actors and commodities, much falls outside the attention of investigators.