Drug and firearms law in Belize: statutes on record and in force

International framework

Belize is bound by 3 of the four instruments this dataset tracks, the earliest from 1996 and the most recent from 2016. The exception is the Firearms Protocol, and that exception has consequences: there is no treaty obligation to mark or trace weapons, so a firearm recovered at a crime scene may have no route back to its point of diversion — the single most common reason a trafficking chain cannot be reconstructed.

What each instrument obliges a party to do is set out once, per instrument, in the conventions reference. The dates above are what is specific to Belize: they are the points from which each obligation began to bind, taken from the depositary's own status tables.

National legislation

What follows is the legislation this dataset can point at. A translated title would be a different instrument, so titles are left as enacted.

Firearms (Amendment) Act of 2018 — An amending instrument in the firearms control legislation, which is where the operative text of an older act is usually found. Confirmed against bco.gov.bz, checked 2026-07-30.

Enforcement authorities

One body is named in the record for Belize, each confirmed on Belize's own government domain. Which body holds a mandate matters in practice: a customs administration can stop a consignment at the frontier, a police service can investigate inland, and only a prosecuting authority can bring the charge.

Ratification sequence

The dates below are worth reading as a sequence rather than as a set. Belize came to these instruments over 20 years, beginning with the 1988 Convention in 1996 and ending with the UNCAC in 2016. Measured against each instrument's own adoption, the shortest gap was the UNTOC at 3 years, the longest the UNCAC at 13.

Belize became a party to the 1988 Convention in 1996, 8 years after it was adopted — slower than the median lag of 5 years across this dataset.

The years in between are the ones a case from that period would have to be judged against. For the 13 years between 2003 and 2016, Belize was bound by the 1988 Convention and the UNTOC but not yet by the UNCAC. For the 7 years between 1996 and 2003, Belize was bound by the 1988 Convention but not yet by the UNTOC or the UNCAC. Treaty obligations do not apply backwards, so the interval is a real limit on what the framework could reach at the time rather than an administrative detail.

On coverage, Belize is one of 22 jurisdiction s here party to 3 of the four, against 81 party to all four. 3 of the 33 Latin America and the Caribbean records here are under increased monitoring as the register stands.

What is not in force

One of the four instruments does not bind Belize, and the gap has specific consequences rather than symbolic ones.

Firearms Protocol — adopted 2001, and Belize is not a party. In practice, there is no treaty obligation to mark or trace weapons, so a firearm recovered at a crime scene may have no route back to its point of diversion — the single most common reason a trafficking chain cannot be reconstructed.

Position on the trafficking corridors

Belize sits on the central american isthmus, one of the six corridors profiled here. How this leg compares with the others is the question the figures below answer.

The Central American isthmus — 9 jurisdictions, carrying cocaine. The legs either side of Belize in the reporting are Guatemala and Mexico. Across the corridor as a whole, 7 of the 9 legs are party to all four instruments, 2 sit outside the Firearms Protocol, every leg carries a confirmed national instrument , and none is under increased monitoring. Belize carries one of those gaps. The full corridor profile lists the jurisdictions it runs through in order.

Financial-crime monitoring

As of the FATF plenary statements of 2026-06-19, Belize is recorded as Not listed . Nothing here is a finding about Belize's financial controls; it records only that neither statement names it. How the plenary reaches these decisions is covered on the FATF grey list tracker.

Questions about drug and firearms law in Belize

Sources

• Ratification dates: United Nations Treaty Collection, depositary status tables (chapters VI-19, XVIII-12, XVIII-14, XVIII-12-c). Checked 2026-07-29.
• Listing status: FATF, Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring and High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action, 2026-06-19.
• Firearms (Amendment) Act of 2018: bco.gov.bz, checked 2026-07-30.