Bolivia's Vice Minister of Social Defense and Controlled Substances Ernesto Justiniano said during an interview that Bolivia and the United States have resumed joint anti-drug trafficking investigations for the first time since 2008, when a diplomatic spat halted cooperation, AFP reported on April 1. Justiniano said Bolivian authorities are exchanging information with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

Bolivia is the world's third-largest producer of cocaine after Colombia and Peru. However, despite the presence of drug trafficking groups in the country, Bolivia typically faces minimal violence related to organized crime.