Transnational Crime | Council on Foreign Relations

China

What Is China’s Role in Combating the Illegal Fentanyl Trade?

Those seeking to profit from fentanyl and governments seeking to control its supply are locked in a never-ending competition, with each new countermeasure spurring further innovation to circumvent it.

Expert Brief by Zongyuan Zoe Liu September 12, 2024
Mexico

Mexico’s Long War: Drugs, Crime, and the Cartels

Violence continues to rage more than a decade after the Mexican government launched a war against drug cartels.

Backgrounder by CFR.org Editors August 5, 2024
Latin America

In Latin America, Your Zip Code—Not Just Your Nationality—Determines Whether You Live in a Democracy

Many big cities are doing well, but in flyover country organized crime and corruption often smother democracy.

Article by Will Freeman July 9, 2024 Diamonstein-Spielvogel Project on the Future of Democracy

Experts in this Topic

John B. Bellinger III

Adjunct Senior Fellow for International and National Security Law

Tina Peña

Military Fellow, U.S. Coast Guard

Myanmar

How Myanmar Became a Global Center for Cyber Scams

Organized crime groups in Southeast Asia have seized on Myanmar’s instability amid civil war to establish a string of scam centers engaged in global online fraud operations.

In Brief by Clara Fong and Abigail McGowan May 31, 2024
Haiti

Haiti Mission Lacks Interlocutor Plus Peruvian Congress Purges Top Judges

No interlocutor for Haiti mission’s international troops and Peru’s “pact of the corrupt” is succeeding where Guatemala’s failed without international pressure.

Blog Post by Shannon K. O'Neil and Will Freeman March 12, 2024 Latin America’s Moment
Ecuador

Can Ecuador Avoid Becoming a Narco-State

Criminal groups have captured parts of the state. A broad political coalition must fight corruption and root them out.

Blog Post by Will Freeman February 14, 2024 Latin America’s Moment

Peru

The Organized Crime Threat to Latin American Democracies

Governments have learned to manage many threats, but they are failing to curb the growing power of organized crime.

Blog Post by Will Freeman January 2, 2024 Latin America’s Moment
Latin America

Ecuador’s 2023 Election: What Noboa’s Victory Means

Daniel Noboa Azín is the youngest president in Ecuador’s history and faces immediate challenges in tackling the country’s grave economic and security crises.

In Brief by Will Freeman October 19, 2023 Latin America Studies Program
Latin America

Latin America’s Crime Surge, With Will Freeman

Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin America studies at CFR, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss spiking crime rates across Latin America and their consequences for the region and the United States.

Podcast with James M. Lindsay and Will Freeman August 1, 2023 The President’s Inbox
Latin America

Central America’s Turbulent Northern Triangle

The United States continues to seek strategies for responding to the growing number of migrants fleeing poverty, violence, and other challenges in the Central American region.

Backgrounder by Diana Roy and Amelia Cheatham July 13, 2023
Latin America

Latin America This Week: May 30, 2023

Debt-for-nature swaps gain traction in Latin America; To fix U.S. migration woes, the government needs to go big; Venezuelan organized crime now stretches across the continent.

Blog Post by Will Freeman and Shannon K. O'Neil May 30, 2023 Latin America’s Moment
Cybersecurity

Cyber Week in Review: March 10, 2023

TSA announces new airport cyber standards; EPA outlines cyber review process for water systems; Germany may ban Huawei and ZTE; Police arrest ransomware gang members; China to establish National Data Administration.

Blog Post by Adam Segal March 10, 2023 Net Politics
El Salvador

Why Has Gang Violence Spiked in El Salvador?

El Salvador’s homicide rate plummeted in recent years, but a spate of killings has drawn attention to President Nayib Bukele’s controversial approach to tackling gang violence.

In Brief by Diana Roy May 4, 2022
Mexico

Mexico

Experts argue that Mexico affects daily life in the United States more than any other country. For years, U.S. and Mexican officials have attempted to tackle immigration, trade, and security challenges, and their success has depended on cooperation. With so much at stake, Why It Matters investigates the complex relationship and the factors that threaten it.

Podcast with Gabrielle Sierra October 14, 2021 Why It Matters
Human Trafficking

The Case for Perpetrator Accountability to Combat Human Trafficking

Corporations have a responsibility to purge slavery from their supply chains, but only governments have the power to prosecute. Keeping criminals accountable is necessary to eliminate slavery and human trafficking.

Blog Post by Peter Williams and Philip Langford July 15, 2021 Women Around the World