Illegal weapons trafficking has turned Latin America into a region of bloodletting in which over 40 percent of the world's homicides take place, experts warned Wednesday.

"Forty-two percent of homicides with a firearm that happen worldwide take place in Latin America, though only 10 percent of the world's population lives here," said Nobel laureate and former president Oscar Arias, citing UN data, at a conference of experts.

Although weapons such as revolvers, pistols and rifles for the most part are manufactured and sold legally, they often end up in the hands of organized crime, terrorists and gangs, the experts said.

"Most weapons start out legal, made by a registered company that pays taxes, and often contributes to political campaigns," said Costa Rican Foreign Minister Enrique Castillo.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has said more than 100,000 firearms seized in his country came from legal commercial outlets in the United States.

"The total lack of, or inadequacy of, controls on their movement that lets them end up in the hands of cartels, mercenaries or those who prop up dictatorships," said Castillo.

Central America is one of the world's deadliest regions. Honduras' murder rate is eight times the global average; Guatemala's rate is six times worse.

Mexico has long been in the throes of drug violence, which is blamed for 45,000 deaths across the country since 2006, when Calderon began a nationwide military crackdown on organized crime.