Latin America and the Caribbean
Source tier A. Conventions checked 2026-07-29.
Drug and firearms law in Guatemala: statutes on record and in force
Guatemala, in Latin America and the Caribbean, is party to all four of the instruments tracked here, the last of them since 2006. It appears on neither FATF list. Its legislation on record runs to 2 confirmed instruments. Where a field could not be sourced it is reported as unsourced rather than left to be inferred.
International framework
Guatemala is bound by all four instruments this dataset tracks, the earliest from 1991 and the most recent from 2006.
| Instrument | Adopted | Ratified or acceded | Depositary reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 Convention | 1988 | 28 Feb 1991 | Chapter VI-19 |
| UNTOC | 2000 | 25 Sep 2003 | Chapter XVIII-12 |
| UNCAC | 2003 | 3 Nov 2006 | Chapter XVIII-14 |
| Firearms Protocol | 2001 | 1 Apr 2004 | Chapter XVIII-12-c |
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 Guatemala: they are the points from which each obligation began to bind, taken from the depositary's own status tables.
National legislation
Each instrument below was located on an official register and is named exactly as that register names it, in the language of enactment.
Ley contra la Narcoactividad (Decreto 48-92) — A subordinate instrument, made under the authority of a parent act rather than standing alone — typically the schedules, thresholds and licensing detail. Confirmed against www.oas.org, checked 2026-07-30.
Ley contra el Lavado de Dinero u Otros Activos — A principal anti-money-laundering instrument, carrying the laundering and proceeds obligations common to the 1988 Convention, UNTOC and UNCAC into domestic law. Confirmed against www.oas.org, checked 2026-07-30.
Enforcement authorities
No enforcement body is named in this record for Guatemala. The bodies that would appear
here are those identified on the jurisdiction's own government hosts — the police service,
customs administration, prosecuting authority or dedicated drug agency, reachable under the .gt country-code domain. What was not found is a page naming the body itself. That is a gap in what is published, and it is reported as one rather than filled from a secondary account.
Ratification sequence
The dates below are worth reading as a sequence rather than as a set. Guatemala came to these instruments over 15 years, beginning with the 1988 Convention in 1991 and ending with the UNCAC in 2006.
Guatemala became a party to the 1988 Convention in 1991, 3 years after it was adopted — faster 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 12 years between 1991 and 2003, Guatemala was bound by the 1988 Convention but not yet by the UNTOC, the Firearms Protocol or the UNCAC. Nothing in the later instruments reaches back into that window, which is why a complete position today says little about a case from then.
On coverage, Guatemala is one of 81 jurisdiction s here party to 4 of the four, against 81 party to all four. Within Latin America and the Caribbean the dataset holds 33 jurisdictions, of which 3 are currently under FATF increased monitoring.
Position on the trafficking corridors
Guatemala sits on the central american isthmus, one of the six corridors profiled here. The corridor is only as traceable as its weakest documented leg, and this is the documentation for this one.
The Central American isthmus — 9 jurisdictions, carrying cocaine. The legs either side of Guatemala in the reporting are El Salvador and Belize. 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. Guatemala clears all three of those checks. 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, Guatemala is recorded as Not listed . Nothing here is a finding about Guatemala's financial controls; it records only that neither statement names it. The mechanics of listing and delisting are on the FATF grey list tracker.
Questions about drug and firearms law in Guatemala
Which drug-control conventions has Guatemala ratified?
All four: the 1988 Convention on 28 Feb 1991, the UNTOC on 25 Sep 2003, the UNCAC on 3 Nov 2006, the Firearms Protocol on 1 Apr 2004.
Is Guatemala on the FATF grey list?
No. Guatemala appears on neither the increased-monitoring list nor the call-for-action list in the FATF statements of 19 June 2026.
What national drug legislation is on record for Guatemala?
Ley contra la Narcoactividad (Decreto 48-92), confirmed against www.oas.org; Ley contra el Lavado de Dinero u Otros Activos, confirmed against www.oas.org.
Which register confirms the legislation on this page?
Each instrument names its own. For Guatemala that is www.oas.org. Following the link reaches the document itself; nothing here paraphrases an instrument it has not cited.
What is source tier A, and why is this record in it?
Tier A means a national instrument has been confirmed against an official register — for Guatemala, 2 of them. The treaty dates and the listing status are separately sourced, so all three layers of this record carry a citation.
Why does the ratification date matter?
The date is the point from which the obligations bind. Guatemala's earliest of these commitments dates from 1991, its most recent from 2006; the gap between them is a rough measure of how long the framework took to assemble.
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.
- Ley contra la Narcoactividad (Decreto 48-92): www.oas.org, checked 2026-07-30.
- Ley contra el Lavado de Dinero u Otros Activos: www.oas.org, checked 2026-07-30.