Nicaragua has long been able to keep homicide rates down, burnishing the country’s anti-crime reputation. But as these case studies illustrate, the most sophisticated criminal groups often operate with a blessing from regional and national elites.
This series, which includes years of field work in Nicaragua, was produced in conjunction with our partner organization, Expediente Abierto.
Investigation Chapters
Nicaragua Elites and Organized Crime: Introduction
In the process of expanding their influence, criminal groups often develop close ties with elites in an effort to gain protection and access to better resources. This facet of transnational organized crime, and the threats it poses to the security and economies of today’s societies, is an issue that requires the attention of both governments…
Nicaragua Elites and Organized Crime: The Case of Henry Fariñas
The murder of a prominent folk singer in Guatemala thrust a Nicaraguan nightclub owner into the spotlight and revealed an illicit drug trafficking network that stretched from Colombia to Mexico.
Nicaragua Elites and Organized Crime: Ted Hayman, the Cocaine Fisherman
Nicaraguan Fisherman Ted Hayman Forbes and his drug trafficking network operated from Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and the Colombian island of San Andres in the Caribbean. His capture and sentencing put an end to a criminal career, which local and Nicaraguan elites had aided and abetted for years.
