2025:Former United Nations Drug Official Calls Venezuelan Narco-State Narrative a Great Hoax 

Pino Arlacchii was the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) from 1997 to 2002. He recently wrote an article about the U.S. declaration that Venezuela is a “narco-state.” [1] His article was translated into English and released by Venezuelanalysis.[2]

Here are excerpts from his article:[2] 

Pino Arlacchi : The Great Hoax Against Venezuela: Oil Geopolitics Disguised as “War on Drugs”

·       “During my time as head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), I frequently travelled to Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Brazil, but never to Venezuela. There was simply no need.

·       “The Venezuelan government’s collaboration in the fight against drug trafficking was among the best in South America, rivalled only by Cuba’s impeccable record. This makes Trump’s narrative of a “narco-state” in Venezuela sound like geopolitically motivated slander.

·       “The 2025 World Drug Report tells a story that is the opposite of the narrative peddled by the Trump administration. Piece by piece, the report dismantles the geopolitical lie built around the “Cartel de los Soles”, an entity as mythical as the Loch Ness Monster, but which is useful for justifying sanctions, blockades and threats of military intervention against a country which, incidentally, sits on one of the planet’s largest oil reserves.

·       “The 2025 UNODC report is crystal clear and should embarrass those who have demonized Venezuela through rhetoric. The report only briefly mentions Venezuela, stating that a small amount of Colombian drug production passes through the country en route to the United States and Europe. According to the UN, Venezuela has consolidated its status as a territory free from the cultivation of coca leaves, cannabis and similar crops, as well as from the presence of international criminal cartels.

·       “This document merely confirms the findings of the previous 30 annual reports, which did not address Venezuelan drug trafficking because it does not exist. Only 5% of Colombian drugs transit through Venezuela.”

1.Arlacchi, Pino, La Grande Bufala contro il Venezuela: la geopolitica del petrolio travestita da lotta alla droga, L’anti diplomatico, Agosto 27, 2025.

2. Arlacchi, Pino, The Great Hoax Against Venezuela: Oil Geopolitics Disguised as “War on Drugs,” Venezuelanalysis, September 2, 2025.


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