Mexico

Mexico: nine dead in prison massacre

A "commando" of six gunmen gained access to a Mexican prison, killed four inmates in their sleep, and then tried to shoot their way out, sparking a bloody fire-fight. 

Central America

Costa Rica: the next narco-state?

Unprecedented cocaine raids across Costa Rica point to the Central American country emerging as a key hub in the hemispheric narco-trade.

Southeast Asia

Golden Triangle opium boom

The UN in its new Southeast Asia Opium Survey finds that opium production in Burma soared in 2013—along with renewed insurgency wars in the country's north.

The Andes

CIA covert action in Colombia revealed

The Washington Post runs an in-depth report exposing CIA oversight of the Colombian government's campaign of targeted assassinations of guerilla leaders.

Iran

Persian Gulf militarized —by drug war

In addition to the naval face-off over a global oil outlet, the Persian Gulf has seen escalating militarization by international forces in the guise of narcotics enforcement.

The Andes

Peru: deadly clash as narco-flight intercepted

Agents of Peru’s National Police force intercepted a small plane loaded with 300 kilos of cocaine paste in Oxapampa province, mortally wounding the pilot, a Bolivian national. 

The Andes

Colombia: kingpin named in Trujillo Massacre

Colombia's prosecutor charged notorious drug kingpin "Don Diego" with masterminding several massacres between 1988 and 1994 in which hundreds of peasants were killed.