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Drug Trafficking Ring Links Argentina to Serbia, Croatia
Argentine authorities have arrested the final suspect in an international drug trafficking network led by Serbians and Croatians that moved cocaine from Argentina to Eastern Europe, highlighting the...
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Mexican Cartels Recruiting US Soldiers
Drug cartels in Mexico are recruiting US soldiers as hitmen, illustrating both the all too common overlap between organized crime and security forces, and the ongoing militarization of the drug trade....
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Extortion Reaches Record High in Mexico
In May, Mexico saw the highest number of extortion reports filed for any month in the past seven years, offering one example of the effects of the increasingly fragmented nature of Mexican organized...
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Murders in Honduras Rising Despite Gang Truce
Murders in Honduras have increased since the Barrio 18 and MS-13 gangs agreed to a truce, according to the latest statistics, casting doubt over whether the initiative inspired by the El Salvador...
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Venezuela to Create Task Force to Fight Border Crime
The Venezuelan government plans to create a new force tasked with patrolling the border with Colombia, which will face an uphill battle if it is to make a dent in crime in a region where criminal...
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Ecuador Seizes $3 Million in Smuggled Goods at Colombia Border
Ecuadorean authorities confiscated $3 million in smuggled goods during the first six months of 2013 at a new checkpoint on the border with Colombia, yet unofficial border crossings continue to fuel the...
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Mexican Vigilantes Face Off Against Military in Guerrero
Self-defense groups in Guerrero, Mexico have detained at least 60 soldiers and announced plans to take over a municipal government building as it becomes increasingly clear that authorities' attempts...
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Shootout Prompts Militarization of Honduras Prisons
In the wake of a prison shootout that left three dead in Honduras, authorities have announced increased security measures to prevent more arms from entering the jail system, where a lack of internal...
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How Mexico's PRI Can Make Nuevo Laredo into Its Juarez
Mexico’s Ciudad Juarez, once the country’s most violent city, has seen violence drop dramatically in the last three years. The Woodrow Wilson Center’s Christopher Wilson explores whether the current...
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Guatemala Children Stolen for Illegal Adoption, Organ Trafficking
Guatemala's Attorney General's Office has received 22 reports of stolen children in seven months, indicating that the trade in illegal adoptions continues to flourish despite regulations, and also...
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Uruguay: Marijuana, Organized Crime and the Politics of Drugs
Uruguay is poised to become the first country on the planet to regulate the production, sale, and distribution of the drug. See entire series »
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Colombian Rebels Exporting Marijuana: Army
More than two tons of marijuana, destined for export, have been traced back to the rebels of the FARC, revealing that cocaine is not the only money spinner for the Colombian guerrillas, who seem to be...
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Shootout Over Drug Shipment Leaves 17 Dead in Honduras
Up to 17 people died in a shootout in an isolated drug trafficking hub along Honduras' Mosquitia coast in a clash over 700 kilos of cocaine involving Honduran, Nicaraguan, and Mexican gangs. While the...
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Can El Salvador Gang Truce Survive Presidential Campaign?
Next year's presidential elections are converting El Salvador's gang truce into a political football that may be its undoing. Though the campaigns for the 2014 presidential elections have just begun,...
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Citizen Security Reform in Venezuela: Gun Control
Last month President Nicolas Maduro signed into law a disarmament bill that has gone under various revisions within the National Assembly since 2010. The law signifies an important attempt by the...
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'El Chapo' Guzman Tried to Buy Surface-to-Air Missiles
Members of "El Chapo" Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel tried to buy high-powered weaponry, including surface-to-air missiles and anti-tank weapons, according to US government reports, suggesting that the...
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Colombia Seeks to Contain Extortion by Doubling Sentences
Colombia, suffering explosive growth in extortion demands, is seeking to almost double sentences for those convicted of the crime. In a legislative project to be brought before Congress, the Colombian...
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Bolivia Reduces Coca Crop for Second Straight Year: UN
Bolivia has reduced coca production for the second straight year, according to a United Nations study, a trend that the UN attributes to government efforts to contain illegal production of the crop....
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Weapons Surrendered by El Salvador's Maras Useless
Revelations that weapons handed over by Mara gangs do not work, combined with rising murder rates, are calling into question the validity of the truce between El Salvador's two main street gangs....
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UN Says Colombia Coca Cultivation Down by 25%
The annual United Nations report on coca cultivation in Colombia shows the number of hectares cultivated has dropped by a quarter, although this does not necessarily translate into a drop in cocaine...
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