Venezuela

[Page 827]Bordering Brazil, Colombia, and Guyana, Venezuela's geography, coupled with lax enforcement and internal politics, provides drug dealers with opportunities for trafficking of cocaine.

Recent antinarcotics policy moves beyond the traditional strategies of interdiction to incorporate detection of illicit crops, processing laboratories, and clandestine airstrips; free substance abuse treatment; and education of youths against illegal drug use. Venezuela participates in antinarcotics programs sponsored by the United Nations (UN) and other bilateral organizations. However, U.S. Venezuelan collaboration to control drug trafficking has decreased in recent years.

Several international antinarcotics agencies have labeled Venezuela a major drug-transit country that facilitates trafficking of cocaine from South America to the United States and Europe. In the 2009–13 National Anti-Drugs Plan, Venezuelan authorities state that between 10 and 15 percent of the ...