Cuba arrests over 250 people in anti-narcotics operations since September
More than 250 people were arrested in Cuba during operations against drug trafficking since September, according to state newspaper Granma.
Anti-drug operations in Cuba: 250 detained and multi-million seizures
More than 250 people have been arrested in Cuba since September as part of several police operations against drug trafficking, according to lajornadasanluis.com.mx citing state newspaper Granma, reported on Tuesday. Authorities frame these actions within a policy of "zero tolerance" towards drugs.
The operations, coordinated by the Ministry of the Interior (Minint), the General Customs Authority and other government structures, made it possible to dismantle 15 houses used for the consumption of crack and synthetic cannabinoids, located mainly in Havana.
During the procedures, more than 8 million Cuban pesos—equivalent to around 10,000 dollars at the official exchange rate—, more than 35,000 dollars and 650 euros, two automobiles, seven motorcycles and various instruments linked to illicit activity were seized.
Among those detained are traffickers, street-level dealers, cultivators, consumers and so-called "recalos finders": people who collect drug shipments thrown into the sea by international drug-trafficking networks and found on Cuban shores.
Those arrested operated in Havana and in the provinces of Matanzas, in the western part of the country, and Granma, in the east. Several of them had previous convictions for the commercialisation of illicit substances or acted in support of Cuban organisers based abroad.
Although the procedures secured marijuana, cocaine, crack and methamphetamine, the largest seizures corresponded to synthetic compounds marketed in sheets, strips and papers.
To reinforce surveillance at the air border, the General Customs Authority and Minint prioritise flights from regional countries with the highest incidence of drug trafficking, as well as air cargo used to introduce narcotics into national territory.
Source: Google News CU — Crime