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The International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, prepared by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, announced in its section on Nicaragua that the DEA will cease operations in the country starting this year.
The decision is tied to the Nicaraguan government’s lack of cooperation and the deterioration of relations between the two governments, following sanctions and criticism from Washington over “human rights violations and rampant corruption in Nicaragua,” the report states.
The ongoing conflict between Managua and Washington has led to decreased cooperation from Nicaragua in anti-drug efforts, with authorities often ignoring routine information requests. The DEA’s withdrawal is “partly due to the lack of cooperation from Nicaragua’s agencies. Inadequate security resources for both terrestrial and maritime operations severely hinder Nicaragua’s drug interdiction capabilities. Reduced security assistance due to increased international isolation has further debilitated Nicaragua’s capabilities.”
The U.S. government’s decision to end the operations of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Nicaragua starting in 2025 will make it easier for narcotics to move through the country and will hinder access to key intelligence in the fight against organized crime. Such intelligence could be used to prosecute anyone supporting drug trafficking in Nicaragua—just as it helped lead to the arrest and extradition of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, according to a national security analyst.
The withdrawal facilitates impunity for drug trafficking operations, especially for “local groups in Nicaragua. Unlike in other countries, where various transnational groups compete to traffic drugs, that doesn’t happen in Nicaragua,” a national security analyst told CONFIDENCIAL, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He stated that “this group is managed from within the State’s security apparatus — that is, primarily by the Police and the Army. The DEA’s withdrawal will allow them to operate with greater impunity and without any consequences, limiting the possibility of facing prosecution in a U.S. court,” like the one former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández had to face.
Departure of the DEA will bring greater isolation
That decision means that “Nicaragua is now completely isolated, as it is no longer part of U.S. cooperation programs with Central America on organized crime,” said another source with expertise in security issues. The source emphasized that organized crime operates on a transnational level, and therefore efforts to combat it must be carried out from a regional perspective, with cooperation among all the actors involved.
Despite politically imposed limitations, the National Police “continues to provide timely responses to requests for security assistance related to U.S. Embassy operations and engages in limited coordination in criminal investigations.”
“Not even in Pablo Escobar’s Colombia did the DEA withdraw, because the Colombian state was fighting the Medellin Cartel, but in Nicaragua, the state is the main cartel,” the analyst said.
This source considers that what the report does not say is more relevant than what it does say. “There is an implicit message, which is that it recognizes that drug trafficking activity has reached such high levels that practically nothing can be done. The cause and effect of this is that “the possibilities of obtaining intelligence information have been completely restricted,” he added.
There Is No Reliable Data in Nicaragua
The origins of this decision go back to 2012, the analyst recalled. He explained that even back then, Ortega was already pushing back against all DEA efforts. He cited the closure of the anti-corruption unit, which was responsible for gathering and sharing information with the DEA. “From that point on, spaces for cooperation began to close rapidly and aggressively, which drastically reduced the flow of intelligence,” he said.
The report casts doubt on the Ortega regime’s much-celebrated, self-proclaimed “Containment Wall Strategy,” which consists of land, air, and sea patrols launched from key border crossings and transit routes—operations that are supposedly meant to deter drug traffickers. “The lack of reliable data makes this difficult to evaluate,” the report states.
It also recalls that in January 2024, “Russian authorities seized a metric ton of cocaine in a shipment from Nicaragua, raising questions about the effectiveness of the strategy.”
One consequence of the DEA’s withdrawal is that its agents will no longer be able to carry out “controlled deliveries” to gather intelligence. That mechanism allows authorities to map out trafficking structures—who leads them, where the money goes, how the drugs are distributed, where safehouses are located, how the product is transferred to other countries, and so on. “All of that becomes more limited, but it’s not impossible to figure out, because these are transnational structures that are interconnected. What they’ll do now is strengthen operations from other countries, mostly in the South,” he theorized.
At the same time that cooperation with the DEA was shrinking, Russian and Chinese presence was growing. “Nicaragua’s international isolation has led it to strengthen its security and surveillance alliances with Russia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In March 2024, Nicaragua formalized a new cooperation agreement with Russia to expand the existing training for security forces at the Russian Interior Ministry’s Training Center (RTC) in Managua,” the report says.
It adds that in September 2024, the National Police announced that China would train Nicaraguan officers in advanced techniques and technologies for counterterrorism, drug trafficking, and cybercrime. “Despite strong political alliances with Russia and the PRC, these countries have not provided essential material assistance—such as vehicles and boats—to improve Nicaragua’s interdiction capabilities,” it concludes.
