Latin America and the Caribbean
Source tier A. Conventions checked 2026-07-29.
Drug and firearms law in Nicaragua: statutes on record and in force
Nicaragua, in Latin America and the Caribbean, is party to all four of the instruments tracked here, the last of them since 2007. It appears on neither FATF list. Its confirmed instrument on record is the Ley Nº 510 sobre el Control y Regulación de Armas de Fuego, Municiones, Explosivos y Otros Materiales Relacionados. Where a field could not be sourced it is reported as unsourced rather than left to be inferred.
International framework
Nicaragua is bound by all four instruments this dataset tracks, the earliest from 1990 and the most recent from 2007.
| Instrument | Adopted | Ratified or acceded | Depositary reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 Convention | 1988 | 4 May 1990 | Chapter VI-19 |
| UNTOC | 2000 | 9 Sep 2002 | Chapter XVIII-12 |
| UNCAC | 2003 | 15 Feb 2006 | Chapter XVIII-14 |
| Firearms Protocol | 2001 | 2 Jul 2007 | 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 Nicaragua: they are the points from which each obligation began to bind, taken from the depositary's own status tables.
National legislation
The following instruments have been confirmed against a citable national source. Titles are given as enacted and are not translated.
Ley Nº 510 sobre el Control y Regulación de Armas de Fuego, Municiones, Explosivos y Otros Materiales Relacionados (No. 510) — A principal firearms control instrument, carrying the Firearms Protocol's manufacturing, marking and transfer controls into domestic law. Confirmed against poderjudicial.gob.ni, checked 2026-07-30.
Enforcement authorities
One body is named in the record for Nicaragua, each confirmed on Nicaragua's own government domain. A named body is not the same as an operative one, but it establishes where the mandate sits — and a mandate no institution holds is the gap that treaty coverage cannot close.
| Body | Function | Confirmed on |
|---|---|---|
| Policía Nacional de Nicaragua | criminal investigation | policia.gob.ni |
Ratification sequence
The dates below are worth reading as a sequence rather than as a set. Nicaragua came to these instruments over 17 years, beginning with the 1988 Convention in 1990 and ending with the Firearms Protocol in 2007. Measured against each instrument's own adoption, the shortest gap was the 1988 Convention at 2 years, the longest the Firearms Protocol at 6.
Nicaragua became a party to the 1988 Convention in 1990, 2 years after it was adopted — faster than the median lag of 5 years across this dataset.
The intervals below are where the obligations were partial rather than complete. For the 12 years between 1990 and 2002, Nicaragua was bound by the 1988 Convention but not yet by the UNTOC, the UNCAC or the Firearms Protocol. For the 4 years between 2002 and 2006, Nicaragua was bound by the 1988 Convention and the UNTOC but not yet by the UNCAC or the Firearms Protocol. 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, Nicaragua is one of 81 jurisdiction s here party to 4 of the four, against 81 party to all four. Latin America and the Caribbean accounts for 33 of the records here; 3 of them carry a current monitoring listing.
Position on the trafficking corridors
Nicaragua sits on the central american isthmus, one of the six corridors profiled here. The record above is what a consignment moving along it encounters here.
The Central American isthmus — 9 jurisdictions, carrying cocaine. The legs either side of Nicaragua in the reporting are Costa Rica and Honduras. 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. Nicaragua clears all three of those checks. The route page sets out every leg.
Financial-crime monitoring
As of the FATF plenary statements of 2026-06-19, Nicaragua is recorded as Not listed . The two statements are issued together and read together, because a jurisdiction named in the second is not on the first. How the plenary reaches these decisions is covered on the FATF grey list tracker.
Questions about drug and firearms law in Nicaragua
Which drug-control conventions has Nicaragua ratified?
All four: the 1988 Convention on 4 May 1990, the UNTOC on 9 Sep 2002, the UNCAC on 15 Feb 2006, the Firearms Protocol on 2 Jul 2007.
Is Nicaragua on the FATF grey list?
No. Nicaragua 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 Nicaragua?
Ley Nº 510 sobre el Control y Regulación de Armas de Fuego, Municiones, Explosivos y Otros Materiales Relacionados (No. 510), confirmed against poderjudicial.gob.ni.
Which register confirms the legislation on this page?
Each instrument names its own. For Nicaragua that is poderjudicial.gob.ni. Each link resolves to the register's own copy, not to a summary of it.
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 Nicaragua, 1 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. Nicaragua's earliest of these commitments dates from 1990, its most recent from 2007; 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 Nº 510 sobre el Control y Regulación de Armas de Fuego, Municiones, Explosivos y Otros Materiales Relacionados: poderjudicial.gob.ni, checked 2026-07-30.