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On the Radar: Latin America Keeps Attacking Crime — But Is It Working

On the Radar: Latin America Keeps Attacking Crime — But Is It Working

Bombings on Ecuador’s border with Colombia, the arrest of one of the region’s…

By Samantha Johnson / March 20, 2026
YouTube video

Bombings on Ecuador’s border with Colombia, the arrest of one of the region’s most wanted traffickers, and more hardline anti-crime measures from Chile are the focus this week. But is any of it working?

Transcript
Welcome back to On the Radar. We have three stories this week, but just one question: is Latin America actually getting tougher on crime, or just being loud about it?
First, in Bolivia, authorities captured one of the region’s most elusive suspected cocaine brokers, Sebastián Marset. The operation, backed by US agents, closes a years-long manhunt, and even included a Hollywood-esque AI movie of his detention.

But it raises a familiar question: although these arrests make good headlines, how much does removing one node really disrupt the network behind him?
Meanwhile, a diplomatic storm is roiling on the Colombia–Ecuador border. Colombia’s president has accused Ecuador of bombing its territory during strikes against criminal groups — claims that Ecuador denies. 
The incident generates more headlines about Ecuador’s President Noboa’s anti-crime stance, backed now by US President Trump. whether these strikes will actually disrupt and complicate the complex web of criminal groups and markets on that border remains to be seen.
And finally to Chile, where newly elected conservative President José Antonio Kast is moving to protect the country’s northern frontier, proposing a fortified barrier to curb illegal migration amid growing fears at home about organized crime.

But critics, and history, suggest it may do little to address the deeper forces driving and organized crime in Chile, which has seen an uptick in its murder rate and a growth in criminal groups. 
All of these moves raise the question of whether this is real control from governments, or just more showmanship to generate tough on crime headlines and reputations.
Check out our criminal profiles on Ecuador, Colombia, and Chile, as well as our extensive coverage of Marset’s arrest and the criminal groups on the borders mentioned in this week’s On the Radar, Ciao for now.

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