A group of armed men murdered eight police and abducted one more in a key drug trafficking region in western Guatemala, in what is rumored to have been a revenge attack carried out by organized crime.

An investigation by Guatemala's Interior Ministry has identified over 54 drug trafficking organizations within the country, including independent groups and those working as "subsidiaries" for larger transnational organizations.

Cases of stolen Guatemalan babies are on the rise again, says an independent child welfare organization in that country, indicating a possible resurgence of illegal adoptions in that Central American country.

The deaths and arrests of mafia kingpins have caused Guatemala's drug trafficking groups to splinter, leading to violent power struggles, according to Guatemalan anti-narcotics prosecutors.

Former President of Guatemala, Alfonso Portillo, has been extradited to the United States to face charges of embezzlement and money laundering, a rare result against impunity in this battered Central American nation.

Guatemala's authorities arrested an alleged member of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel on May 20, the latest supposed accomplice from the Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman-led crime syndicate to fall.

Guatemala is to implement a new journalist protection program, reflecting concerns over the threat posed to Latin American journalists by organized crime and the lack of adequate security measures from the region's governments.

Statistics show that for the first time since 2009, homicides have begun to climb at a steady pace in Guatemala, raising the question of what could be behind the rise in killings.

Forensic analysis has revealed that the MS-13 gang in Guatemala used 32 guns to allegedly commit 238 murders, offering insight into the gang's modus operandi and highlighting some of the difficulties of tackling organized crime with gun control.

A new report sheds light on a little-studied subject: the trafficking of US weapons into Guatemala, a relatively limited phenomenon that could be far bigger than suggested by the available data and may play a role in the continuing violence and criminality in that Central American nation.