The Times visited a village where the United States and Ecuador said they destroyed an armed group’s training camp. Residents said it was actually a dairy farm.

Lab-made drugs soaked into the pages of letters, books and even legal documents are being smuggled behind bars, killing inmates and frustrating investigators.

A surge of weapons is flowing from the U.S. to Mexico. These firearms — sourced from gun shops, shows, websites and apps — are funneled across the border to fuel the country’s most violent crimes.

In Nigeria, customs officers and conservationists are confronting the grim impacts of the $20 billion trade.

Drug gangs have turned the South American country into one of the most dangerous in the region and the world’s leading exporter of cocaine.