Costa Rican authorities have seized 4 tons of cocaine this year at a single crossing point on the Nicaraguan border, in a sign that overland shipping routes remain important despite Costa Rica's efforts to tighten security on its land borders.

As drug gangs like the Sinaloa Cartel continue to penetrate Central America, even state institutions in relatively peaceful Costa Rica are increasingly infiltrated by organized crime.

Argentine singer Facundo Cabral’s murder in Guatemala last year sparked an investigation which spans the hemisphere. Plaza Publica reports that his alleged killer may be ensnared in a wider conspiracy, involving a Colombian gang's attempts to turn Sinaloa Cartel boss 'El Chapo’ over to US authorities.

Costa Rica's authorities confiscated two tons of cocaine from two boats off the Pacific coast, in the country's biggest cocaine seizure since 2006.

With Costa Rica increasingly becoming host to international drug trafficking organizations, President Laura Chinchilla claims that the Central American country’s democratic institutions, which have a relatively strong reputation, have never faced such a serious threat.

Costa Rica's government approved a plan this week to raise some $70 million per year in extra funding to fight organized crime in that country.

In the concluding section of a three-part series, investigator Michael Porth examines the steps that Costa Rica, long one of the most peaceful countries in the region, is taking to combat organized crime.

In the second of a three-part series, investigator Michael Porth looks at the drug trafficking organizations operating in Costa Rica, who move their product through the country by land, sea and air.

Costa Rica's rich democratic tradition and strong middle class makes it easy to forget in a region full of turmoil, civil wars and despair. However, in this, the first of a three-part series, investigator Michael Porth unravels the events that have laid the groundwork for the burgeoning criminal activity in that Central American nation.

More money is laundered through Costa Rica than any other Central American country, according to a study presented by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE).