This project is a database of all seizures, arrests, and major incidents relating to organized crime in Colombia. My goal is to build a searchable catalogue of events that helps other journalists and researchers quickly understand the publicly available information.

I pull all the information from publically available sources, mainly spanish-language reporting on single incidents from local newspapers and social media. As a result, I cannot specifically vouch for the accuracy of any individual figures – I rely on the accuracy of the initial reporting. Where there are inconsistencies in reports about the same incident, I try my best to resolve by identifying the original source.

The map interface should help make the information available easily digestible. Often, reporting on incidents will identify a town or village where a seizure took place. In these cases, the pin on the map will be accurate to that town. In other cases, there’s no specific information about a town or coordinates, so the pin will be placed in the right region but not necessarily the exact town. If a pin is on a specific street or neighborhood, do not assume that this is the precise location of a seizure. I am only working with the information in the original article, which is often quite vague.

Similarly, the totals for seizures in some news articles are vague. Many Colombian sources will refer to several “paquetas” of cocaine or marijuana rather than an exact kilo amount. In these cases, the number in the spreadsheet assumes that 1 paqueta is equivalent to 1 kilo, but this is not necessarily true.

If you plan to use information from this database in published research, I recommend reading the original articles from which I’m drawing the information for additional context. You can find these links as the “read article” hyperlink. I also recommend citing those articles and journalists, as they did the actual legwork.

I am a Medellin-based journalist who covers organised crime. I hold a masters degree with distinction in Conflict Studies from the London School of Economics.