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 illegal drugs produced in Colombia travel through Venezuela. The 2009 World Drug Report of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that 20 percent of the cocaine originating in Colombia is transported to the United States via the western Caribbean route, which includes Venezuela. Data from the National Counternarcotics Office (abbreviated to ONA in Spanish) shows a recent upward trend in seizure statistics. Approximately 50 metric tons of illegal drugs were seized from 2000 to 2009, more than triple the average of about 14 metric tons seized from 1990 to 1999. Cocaine is the main drug of transit. ONA estimates that cocaine accounts for 63.2 percent of seizures between 2000 and 2009.

Venezuela's long border with Colombia is mostly rugged terrain, making patrolling of the border difficult. Colombians bring drugs into Venezuela through land and river routes. U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) documents describe drug trafficking in trucks traveling from Colombia through the Pan-American Highway, a main route to Caracas. The Colombian rivers Meta, Vichada, and Guaviare flow into Venezuela's Orinoco River, facilitating transportation in small boats.

Maritime and aerial routes are used for outbound trafficking, facilitated by the lengthy coastline extending along the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. In 2008 the Joint Interagency Task Force of the U.S. armed forces in Florida seized about 11 metric tons of cocaine from Venezuelan-flagged maritime vessels in the Caribbean. Go-fast boats are used to transport cocaine to southern Caribbean islands. Shipments are then transported to North America via Central America. Aircraft take [Page 828]off from clandestine airstrips located in the rural state of Apure, headed mostly to Central America. Although the major destination of cocaine transiting Venezuela is the United States, a small portion travels to Europe. UNODC reported that in 2006, 31 percent of cocaine seizures in Spain were traced back to Venezuela.

The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard worked with the Venezuelan Navy during this 2009 transfer of seized cocaine in the Caribbean Sea.

Like most South American nations, the illicit drug used most frequently in Venezuela is marijuana. Based on UN data, 7.5 percent of those between the ages of 15 and 64 are marijuana users. In addition, cocaine use has increased recently. Approximately 0.6 percent of the population between 15 and 64 are annual cocaine users.

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