The UN International Commission Against Impunity reported that approximately a quarter of the money used for Guatemalan political campaigns is from criminal groups.
Fighters loyal to ISIS have seized substantial territory in Afghanistan, burning opium fields in an apparent bid to stigmatize the Taliban as corrupt and soft on drugs.
A massive manhunt is underway in Mexico after the country's most notorious drug lord escaped from the country's highest security prison through a secret tunnel.
Mexico's ruling coalition kept its slim majority in elections marred by violence and assassination of candidates. Striking teachers attempted to disrupt the vote, calling it a farce.
Peace talks with the FARC rebels resumed in Havana—but rather than answering rebel calls for a bilateral ceasefire, the government has stepped up air-strikes.
Survivors are questioning official accounts of a shoot-out between Mexican federal forces and a narco gang that left over 40 dead in the Michoacán town of Tanhuato.
Peru's authorities claim to have evidence that the neo-Senderistas are in league with a re-organized Colombian cocaine cartel, ironically known as the "Cafeteros" (coffee-producers).
Protesters are demanding that Guatemala's President Otto Pérez step down following corruption revelations—including claims linking his administration to narco-traffickers.
Mexico's drug cartels appear to have declared open season on any candidate for public office who will not toe their line in the run-up to June's midterm elections.
Maya indigenous peasants in Mexico's southern Chiapas state marched cross-country to oppose violence by narco gangs and the corruption of local authorities that protect them.
Family members of some of the 43 missing students held a vigil in New York City's Union Square—one stop on a tour of US cities to raise awareness on their plight.
DEA agents in Colombia held sex parties with prostitutes hired by narco-traffickers, according to an investigation released by the US Justice Department.
