UN Ratifies Venezuela for Sixth Consecutive Year as a Territory Free of Illicit Drug Cultivation

Caracas, 26 Jun. AVN .- The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) ratified, for the sixth consecutive year, the non-existence of illicit drug cultivations in Venezuela.

“We have been evaluated and we have achieved this very important landmark in the struggle against drug trafficking. Venezuela is a territory free from illicit drug cultivation,” said the justice minister Tareck El Aissami.

“Venezuela is not even labelled as a transiting country, thanks to the policies implemented by the Government. We hold a frontal, determined and tireless battle [against drug trafficking], with the support of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces and the entire country,” he pointed out.

Moreover, the report published on Friday June 24 shows that Venezuela ranks fifth in terms of quantity of drugs seized, carrying out “4% of drug seizures in the world, most of all regarding cocaine.”

“Venezuela is not a producing country and we are not even considered a consuming country,” the minister highlighted.

He recalled that, on Saturday, 5 tons of high-purity cocaine were seized, to make a total of 22 tons of drugs seized so far in 2011.

“Sixty percent of drugs have been seized by the Bolivarian National Guard,” he said.

Finally, he stressed that Venezuela is one of the countries that has focused on implementing preventive drug policies: “Clear and strong policies…never before has Venezuela been recognized with such concrete achievements nor stood out as a country of reference in the battle against drugs,” he said.

Edited by Venezuelanalysis.com