The Central American Corridor: How the untherworld links criminal networks to Europe

Costa Rica and Panama have become the principal launch platform for cocaine bound for Europe. In 2025 alone, nearly 100 tonnes were seized in Panama and 46.5 in Costa Rica, much of it concealed within containerised trade whose sheer volume defeats any inspection capacity.

This study examines how local criminal networks have moved beyond renting out their logistics to coordinating — and even part-owning — shipments, working for Colombian structures and, more distantly, for Mexican cartels and Italian, Balkan and Dutch brokers. It reconstructs the maritime inflow routes, the departure points towards Antwerp, Rotterdam, Algeciras and smaller EU ports, and the factors that sustain the corridor: corruption, laundering through free trade zones, and convergence with the illegal trafficking of gold, timber and wildlife.

A publication produced by InSight Crime, Expertise France, FRONTEX and CARICOM IMPACS within the framework of EL PACCTO 2.0, the European Union's cooperation programme with Latin America and the Caribbean on security and justice.

Available in English, Spanish and French