Judge Ivana David has been working in the Brazil's prison system for 30 years, which gave her a front row seat to the emergence of the PCC.

Its rise startled Brazil and beyond, but it is was not anomaly. In fact, it is part of a region-wide trend where prison-based criminal groups dominate the underworld in the Americas.

More about the PCC and our coverage on prisons and gangs at ⁠insightcrime.org

Abraham Barberi is a walking paradox. He is from Mexico but lives in the United States. He does missionary work but plays guitar in a death metal band. He is a Baptist pastor but advocates for migrants and asylum seekers. This is the story of how he navigates these contradictions in Matamoros, the birthplace of Mexico’s Gulf Cartel and one of the country’s most dangerous cities.

Sociedad Demente, by My place Was Taken.

On June 20, 2023, at least 46 inmates were killed by members of the 18th Street gang at Honduras’ National Female Penitentiary for Social Adaptation, in what was one of the deadliest massacres ever recorded in a women’s prison in Latin America. But it wasn’t the first massacre in this prison. Three years earlier, six women, allegedly linked to the MS13, also lost their lives at the hands of the 18th Street gang there. InSight Crime tells the stories of two rival gang members inside this prison, who, despite coming from very similar contexts, are ready to engage in a war with each other.

More about this story at ⁠insightcrime.org