Latin America and the Caribbean
Source tier A. Conventions checked 2026-07-29.
Drug and firearms law in Venezuela: statutes on record and in force
Venezuela, in Latin America and the Caribbean, is party to all four of the instruments tracked here, the last of them since 2013. It is currently under increased monitoring by the FATF. Its legislation on record runs to 3 confirmed instruments. Every line below carries the source it came from and the date that source was read.
International framework
Venezuela is bound by all four instruments this dataset tracks, the earliest from 1991 and the most recent from 2013.
| Instrument | Adopted | Ratified or acceded | Depositary reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 Convention | 1988 | 16 Jul 1991 | Chapter VI-19 |
| UNTOC | 2000 | 13 May 2002 | Chapter XVIII-12 |
| UNCAC | 2003 | 2 Feb 2009 | Chapter XVIII-14 |
| Firearms Protocol | 2001 | 10 Jun 2013 | 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 Venezuela: 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.
Law Narcotics — A principal drug control instrument, carrying the 1988 Convention's trafficking and confiscation obligations into domestic law. Confirmed against the UNODC legal library, checked 2026-07-30.
Ley Orgánica de Drogas - Asamblea Nacional — A principal drug control instrument, carrying the 1988 Convention's trafficking and confiscation obligations into domestic law. Confirmed against asambleanacional.gob.ve, checked 2026-07-30.
Ley orgánica sobre sustancias estupefacientes y psicotrópica — A principal drug control instrument, carrying the 1988 Convention's trafficking and confiscation obligations into domestic law. Confirmed against the UNODC legal library, checked 2026-07-30.
Enforcement authorities
2 bodies are named in the record for Venezuela, each confirmed on Venezuela'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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ministerio Público | prosecution | mp.gob.ve |
| Viceministerio del Sistema Integrado de Policía | criminal investigation | mpprijp.gob.ve |
Ratification sequence
A count of four tells you less than the sequence that produced it. Venezuela came to these instruments over 22 years, beginning with the 1988 Convention in 1991 and ending with the Firearms Protocol in 2013. Measured against each instrument's own adoption, the shortest gap was the UNTOC at 2 years, the longest the Firearms Protocol at 12.
Venezuela 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 intervals below are where the obligations were partial rather than complete. For the 11 years between 1991 and 2002, Venezuela was bound by the 1988 Convention but not yet by the UNTOC, the UNCAC or the Firearms Protocol. For the 7 years between 2002 and 2009, Venezuela was bound by the 1988 Convention and the UNTOC but not yet by the UNCAC or the Firearms Protocol. Conduct inside such a window is judged against the instruments then in force, not against the set as it stands today.
On coverage, Venezuela 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
Venezuela is a junction: it appears as a leg of 2 of the six corridors profiled here, which is why its legal position carries further than its own borders. A gap on a junction degrades tracing along every route that crosses it, while the same gap on a terminal leg affects one.
The West African corridor — 12 jurisdictions, carrying cocaine. The legs either side of Venezuela in the reporting are Colombia and Brazil. Across the corridor as a whole, 9 of the 12 legs are party to all four instruments, 3 sit outside the Firearms Protocol, 1 carry no confirmed national instrument , and 1 is under increased monitoring. Venezuela carries one of those gaps. The route page sets out every leg.
The Caribbean corridor — 12 jurisdictions, carrying cocaine. The legs either side of Venezuela in the reporting are Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago. Across the corridor as a whole, 9 of the 12 legs are party to all four instruments, 2 sit outside the Firearms Protocol, every leg carries a confirmed national instrument , and 2 are under increased monitoring. Venezuela carries one of those gaps. The route page sets out every leg.
Financial-crime monitoring
As of the FATF plenary statements of 2026-06-19, Venezuela is recorded as Increased monitoring . What that status means, and how it differs from the call-for-action list, is set out on the FATF grey list tracker.
Questions about drug and firearms law in Venezuela
Which drug-control conventions has Venezuela ratified?
All four: the 1988 Convention on 16 Jul 1991, the UNTOC on 13 May 2002, the UNCAC on 2 Feb 2009, the Firearms Protocol on 10 Jun 2013.
Is Venezuela on the FATF grey list?
Yes. Venezuela is under increased monitoring as of the FATF plenary statement of 19 June 2026. That means the FATF has identified strategic deficiencies in its anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing regime and the jurisdiction has committed to an action plan with review deadlines.
What national drug legislation is on record for Venezuela?
Law Narcotics, confirmed against the UNODC legal library; Ley Orgánica de Drogas - Asamblea Nacional, confirmed against asambleanacional.gob.ve; Ley orgánica sobre sustancias estupefacientes y psicotrópica, confirmed against the UNODC legal library.
Which register confirms the legislation on this page?
Each instrument names its own. For Venezuela that is the UNODC legal library, asambleanacional.gob.ve. 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 Venezuela, 3 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. Venezuela's earliest of these commitments dates from 1991, its most recent from 2013; 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.
- Law Narcotics: the UNODC legal library, checked 2026-07-30.
- Ley Orgánica de Drogas - Asamblea Nacional: asambleanacional.gob.ve, checked 2026-07-30.
- Ley orgánica sobre sustancias estupefacientes y psicotrópica: the UNODC legal library, checked 2026-07-30.