Chile has taken several steps in the recent past to fight organized crime, the latest of which is assigning special prosecutors to the task.

La Tercera reported Chile's Minister of the Interior, Rodrigo Penailillo announced Saturday the assignment of the prosecutors to investigate organized criminal activity including drug trafficking, laundering of assets, white collar crimes, cyber-crime and terrorism.

Penailillo said it was a move ordered by President Michelle Bachelet, and should be an immediate focus and priority for the country as a whole.

The federal government has already been pushing for reforms to aid in the efforts, which may see results this month and next, and has also entered into an international collaboration with Spain.

On Oct. 30, the two nations signed an agreement to combat organized criminal activities, by sharing information and cooperating in police investigations, according to a statement from the Spanish government.

Penailillo also said there are reforms pending in the legislative branch that would enforce stricter penalties on illegal ownership and wrongful use of weapons.

Chile, and in general Latin America, are home to some of the highest gun-related deaths in the world, and the fault doesn't lie with the laws governing these countries, according to InSightCrime.

A non-government organization reported there are almost 2 million unregistered weapons in Chile, compared to the 758,593 registered with the police, according to Terra.

The organization, Activa, collaborated on a gun ownership survey with la Asociación Chilena de Municipalidades (AChM) (Association of Chilean Municipalities).

The survey was conducted between January and June 2013, and revealed that many of the unregistered weapons are held by organized crime members, gangs and minors within those groups.

The surveyors criticized public policy, saying there has not been any progress within the state to address the issue.

According to the study, the regions where the most gun seizures were seen included Metropolitana (585), Maule (183), Valparaíso (164), O'Higgins (98), Coquimbo (88), Antofagasta (61) and Biobío (60), Terra reported.

Nationwide, on average, 9 weapons were seized daily and an average of 276 were seized monthly.