Best South American crime series

A scandal erupts in Brazil during an investigation of alleged government corruption via oil and construction companies. Loosely inspired by true events.

While hunting for a dating-site predator, an underused cop discovers a husband and wife with a horrific secret — and a web of conspiracy hiding it.

Pablo is a man with a natural ability for business. Early in his life, Pablo is introduced to the business of cocaine and the power it yields. A young life of crime lands Pablo in and out of jail as he builds his criminal empire. Pablo expands his power through politics but it is not long before his conflicts as a Congressman and a drug lord collide. Pablo has his enemies executed, but not before the United States activates its own war on the Medellin cartel.

When a group of underachieving 40-something friends gather in Belize to celebrate the early retirement of an old friend, a series of wild, comedic events unfold, exposing dark secrets and a web of lies, deception and murder.

Known for catching criminals, famed reporter Ema Garay faces a dilemma when the suspect in a teen's disappearance turns out to be someone close to her.

An ex-cop entered a prison as convicted under a false identity in order to infiltrate within a group of prisoners that has just kidnapped the teenage daughter of an important national judge.

To crack the code of an investigation into a larger-than-life robbery, federal agents need to get creative.

The members of a diverse vigilante group formed to boost the police's image are put in jeopardy when they stumble upon an unexpected drug deal.

The crime shocked Brazil: Elize Matsunaga shot and dismembered her rich husband. Featuring her first interview, this docuseries dives deep into the case.

Told through three different characters' perspectives, the story of Sintonia explores the interconnection of the music, drug traffic, and religion in São Paulo. In the quest to be somebody, many paths will converge.

During the year 2000, Ricardo, Pollo, Walter and Chiqui occupied a house in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Congreso. The four young people forge a strong friendship that leads them to go through different stories of crime, drugs and social marginalization.

In 1992, actress and dancer Daniella Perez was murdered by her co-star, Guilherme de Pádua and his wife, Paula Thomaz, in a cruelly premeditated crime. The untimely death of the 22-year-old, daughter of Brazilian author and producer, International Emmy winner Gloria Perez, shocked the country, gained notoriety and occupied the front pages of national newspapers for years.

Documentary series on the circumstances surrounding the death of María Marta García Belsunce, one of the most controversial criminal cases in Argentina.

Based on the 1994 robbery of US$33 million from Colombia's central bank, which turned the country upside down.

Five female prisoners forge a unique bond after a deadly accident... until corruption and turf wars within a ruthless prison threaten to destroy them.

A father who never stopped fighting against drugs. A son who never stopped using them. Two sides of the same coin. Victor is a cop who has fought all his life to curb cocaine trafficking. His son is a drug addict who has become one of the most wanted burglars in Rio de Janeiro. Will a father’s love be enough to save his son’s life?

Adrift and desperately needing money to pay for his ailing adoptive father's care, Ubaldo, a bank clerk who's unable to remember his childhood, receives an inheritance that will change his destiny for good. He goes to Cratará, in the heart of the northwest desert, where he'll become the leader of a pack of ruthless bandits, fulfilling the legacy of his biological father - a mythical cangaceiro.

Twenty years after City of God, Buscapé recounts how conflicts between police, traffickers, and militias impacted the community.

Brazil Avenue is a dynamic, lifelike, and modern telenovela that reveals how unrelenting ambition and inflicted cruelty can change a young girl’s destiny and lead her to seek revenge.

When a young Bogotá-based detective gets drawn into the jungle to investigate four femicides, she uncovers magic, an evil plot and her own true origins.

Rio de Janeiro, during the 90's. Evandro dreams about becoming a great businessman, but ends up entering the world of crime and making an empire out of his criminal organization. His business skills and leadership abilities draw the attention of Morello, a federal police officer with a self-destructive behavior who sees in Evandro a worthy enemy. Two strategists that share the love for danger. The hunt down begins.

In this realistic and touching series told in an innovative format, seemingly independent plots intertwine to show how justice can sometimes be a personal matter.

After his running mate's murder, a controversial televangelist becomes Argentina's presidential candidate. But nothing about him is as holy as he seems.

The series follows the story of the disappearance of a boy in Paraná state (Brazil) and the investigation of the case.

Architect Fabián Danubio desperately tries to find his daughter, who has inexplicably disappeared leaving no trace.

Miranda returns to Mexico to uncover her family history and learns that her mother did not abandon her, but that she was kidnapped at birth. Finding her mother in a psychiatric hospital, suffering from the effects of abuse and violence, Miranda decides to work her way into the heart of a criminal organization to uncover the truth about what happened and make sure those responsible are punished.

As the Medellín Cartel crumbles, Pablo Escobar's No. 1 hit man struggles to stay alive and gain respect in the prison hierarchy.

Two families, two terrible injustices, and one common plan for revenge. A daughter who loses her mother is wrongly imprisoned and murdered in prison. A mother who loses her daughter is the victim of medical malpractice. Both join forces to take revenge on those who destroyed their families.

Idolized medium João Teixeira de Faria rises to international fame before horrifying abuse is revealed by survivors, prosecutors and the press.

Meet Sereia, a young and beautiful singer whose world of fame and fortune is interlaced with envy and hate. Her murder in the midst of carnival shocks the entire country and the hunt for her killer reveals a new suspect with each new day of investigation. Holding the status of a big-budget thriller, the miniseries brings about mysticism, sensuality and suspense that hooks the viewer until the astonishing end.

Four men become fugitives after a failed drug deal, running from north to south of Chile.

Epitafios is a 2004 13-episode, Argentinian crime fiction TV mini-series with the tagline: El Final Está Escrito ... The End Is Written. The series, which takes place in an unnamed South American city, was shot in Buenos Aires.The series was produced by HBO Latin America and Argentinian TV/film company Pol-Ka Producciones. It was written by Marcelo Slavich and Walter Slavich and directed by Alberto Lecchi and Jorge Nisco. Although all of the actors were Argentinian, a neutral Spanish was used instead of the local Rioplatense Spanish, avoiding colloquialisms such as the local vos in favor of the more common tú.The series debuted in Australia on SBS in May 2007 under the title If The Dead Could Speak. It premiered in Poland on Cinemax on November 6, 2008. In Germany, it premiered on November 6, 2009 on pay TV channel FOX under the title Epitafios - Tod Ist Die Antwort.

After skater Kevin and his crew pull off Chile's biggest heist, reckless love –and social media– threatens everyone's fortunes.

This drama based on a true story follows the Puccios, a criminal family who kidnaps wealthy people and holds them hostage in their home.

Set in a fictional modern-day Sao Paulo, where marijuana has been legalized, this series follows 29-year-old Biriba, a drug dealer who decides to give up his criminal life and enter the legal drug sales industry. Unfortunately for Biriba, going straight is more difficult than he could have imagined.

After going to a Halloween party, college student Luis Andrés Colmenares is found dead. Was it an accident or murder? Inspired by true events.

Blanca, student leader of the feminist movement in an occupied school, goes missing: hours later, a video of a group raping the girl goes viral. In their aim to find her, a police squad formed by three women puts their lives and that of their families at risk. As they look for Blanca and investigate, they will find out that behind this gender crime there is much more than just one offender.

Twelve people are confined together in an abandoned maximum security prison in the middle of the Amazon forest, and end up having to fight for their lives against unknown creatures and supernatural odds.

A determined woman works to rid an Argentine soccer club of the violent crime and corruption surrounding its intense fanbase.

The story of Cadu, a public defender who sees his life change after being mistaken for a drug dealer.

A former pair of thieves must dust off their old seduction tricks when blackmail threatens to expose their dirty laundry.

Maria da Paz is a committed baker who becomes a wealthy businesswoman twenty years after a tragedy strikes on the day of her wedding to Amadeu. From this broken union a baby is born, Jô, who seeks power and despises her mother’s humble origins. Afraid that her parents’ reunion might spoil her plans, Jô starts an alliance with the charming Régis to convince Maria to marry him and, together, they plan to steal all of Maria’s fortune. In this exciting telenovela written by Emmy Awards winner Walcyr Carrasco, Maria’s optimism must be stronger than Jô’s ambition when the baker finds out about the betrayal and her own daughter’s dangerous secrets.

An administrative police officer, Franco Montero, receives as an inheritance the care of a half-brother that he did not know. Lorenzo Montero, a child prodigy with an IQ of 200 who changes his way of life and his work. The eleven-year-old's intelligence puts Franco and his assistant Gustavo Mansilla in charge of the homicide division. By deducing and exploring the three, they solve the most striking cases.

This is the story of the legendary Rosario Tijeras, the beautiful warrior from a slum who fell in love with Antonio and Emilio, two handsome and wealthy young men. Antonio, a young architect, desperately rushes the dying Rosario Tijeras to a nearby hospital. The beautiful Rosario has been shot four times by a hitman. While he waits for his beloved Rosario to be saved from her wounds, Antonio recalls how Rosario, a beautiful teenager, became the murderer Rosario Tijeras. And how he, a dashing young man, makes her his obsession. The woman of his dreams.

When his older brother is found dead, apparently by suicide, the renowned psychoanalyst Pablo Rouviot is the only one convinced that it is a murder. With the assistance of Officer Cecilia Bermúdez as his sole ally, Pablo takes on the investigation, uncovering a much larger scheme with a serial killer at its core.

When a teen is kidnapped by a sex trafficking ring, a river pirate and a fierce mother embark on separate quests to find her — until their paths cross.

A piercing four-part docuseries exploring the rise of Brazil’s largest crime organization, Primeiro Comando da Capital – better known as the PCC.The First Command of the Capital (PCC) holds the hegemony of crime in São Paulo, but also an international presence. Narrated by the "brothers", the secret of the PCC's power is revealed in its structure: a masonry of crime, implacable in your ideals.

After vicious infighting, two brothers are expelled of their beloved team’s gang. Alone, without money or political protection, they start a war that puts their brotherhood to the test.

The story about Argentinian boxer Carlos Monzón in his career and life in prison.

A man bored with his reality, works in the São Paulo government censorship department, is married to Isabel, but falls in love with Dora Dumar, an actress of the films he has the obligation to censor.

An ambitious woman who, for love, abandons Law School and ends up in the criminal world. A policewoman who dreams about becominga MMA championwhile fighting organized crime. A young dreamer torn between finding true love and her search for freedom. Written by International Emmy Award winner Gloria Perez, "Edge of Desire" presents three strong-willed women that have one thing in common: the tenacity to fight for what they want.

El Puntero was a 2011 Argentine miniseries, produced by Pol-Ka and starred by Julio Chávez and Gabriela Toscano. "Puntero" is a word from Argentine slang for a man who works as an intermediate between poor people and political parties, in a clientelist relation. The miniseries received the Golden Martín Fierro Award.

Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso tells the tragic story of a young woman named Catalina Santana who's ambition is so strong she'll risk her life, because of her obsession with having larger breasts in order to attract drug lords and have all the luxuries in this world.

Lurdes is a mother of five who tirelessly seeks for Domenico, a child of hers who was sold by his own father 26 years ago; Thelma is an overprotective mother who finds out she has a terminal illness, and must race against time to make her dreams come true and prepare her son for a life without her presence; Vitória is a successful lawyer who sees the end of her marriage after countless failed attempts to have a baby and decides for adoption, but finds out she is pregnant during the process. In "A Mother's Love", the lives of these women are intertwined while they recognize themselves in the unconditional love provided by motherhood.

In Cali during the '60s and '70s, two brothers juggle family, romance and the joint pursuit of a burning ambition: to rule Colombia's drug industry.

The life and death of city councilor Marielle Franco and driver Anderson Gomes, murdered on the night of 14 March, 2018, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

When her husband is killed in a land grabbing attempt, Aline takes charge of cultivating his land and protecting his family. Facing the powerful Antonio La Selva, responsible for the death of her husband and the largest landowner in the region, Aline is determined to keep possession of her land and invest in its production. However, she didn't expect that she would fall in love with Daniel, son of her rival, who is at odds with his rebellious half-brother, Caio, who, in turn, also falls in love with the girl. In the interior of Brazil, Aline will have to fight two battles: the dispute for her lands and for her heart.

Based on the true story of one of the most notorious crimes in Argentina, the series intimately follows all those involved in the case, and those who are still seeking an answer to the question: Who killed María Marta?

A young law student starts to work as a detective, decided to uncover the identity behind a series of murders, as well as who is next.

Paloma is a seamstress and mother of three who, after having her exams exchanged with that of a terminally ill patient, believes she has only six months to live. Things are cleared up, but the young woman’s desire for a change in life remains, and she goes after the man who is really on the brink of death, Alberto. Having a passion for literature as their main connection, they build a beautiful friendship that gives new meaning to their lives, restoring in him the pleasure of living and bringing Paloma closer to a love from her past, Ramon, and also to Marcos, the charming son of Alberto, with whom she got involved when she thought she would die.

In a major slum called La Colina, young idealist Hache and his friends will confront the drug dealers who control the neighborhood. They will succeed with the help of music, an old Chinese ninja master and a mythical character who also lives in La Colina. Simultaneously, Juana will find shelter there as she runs away from her family's assassins.

La viuda negra (The Black Widow) is a 2014 Spanish-language telenovela produced by RTI Producciones and Televisa for United States-based television network Univisión and for Colombia-based television network Caracol Television. It is an adaptation of the book La patrona de Pablo Escobar of José Guarnizo based on history from Griselda Blanco.

When a renowned criminal lawyer sees one of the people she loves most become a victim of the Brazilian penitentiary system, she must decide whether to cross the line that separates her between looking for justice or committing an unforgivable crime.

This four-part docuseries explores the harrowing 2019 killing of three women and six children from a Mormon community in Sonora, Mexico.