2005-2016:The Venezuelan Government Always Approved Requests from the U.S. Coast Guard to Board Vessels to Search for Drugs

In 1991 the Venezuelan and U.S. governments signed a bilateral maritime counterdrug agreement that authorized U.S. officials to board Venezuelan flagged vessels suspected of trafficking drugs in international waters, as long as the Venezuelan government permitted the search. [1]

Officials from the U.S. Coast Guard reported that the Venezuelan government had not denied any Coast Guard request to board a vessel.[2] In the years 2005-2009, Venezuela granted the US Coast Guard permission to board eight Venezuelan-flagged vessels to search for drugs.[2]

In 2016, the Venezuelan government cooperated with the US Coast Guard in six documented maritime drug-interdiction cases, compared to ten cases in 2015, two cases in 2014, ten cases in 2013, and five cases in 2012. [3]

 The procedures apply only to flagged vessels. If a vessel is stateless, the process is different and does not require permission from a foreign government.

 

1.    U.S. Department of State, List of maritime counter narcotics law enforcement agreements signed by the United States, August 9, 2005

2.    U.S. GAO, U.S. Counternarcotics Cooperation with Venezuela has Declined, July, 2009.

3.    U.S. State Department, 2017 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, March 2017.

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