MIAMI, United States. – Agents from the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) seized “a few weeks ago” the synthetic drug known as “the chemical” and arrested 22 citizens linked to its distribution, during an operation carried out in the Coco Solo-Zamora council, municipality Marianaoin Havana, according to a report of the Television News.
Although he did not offer details, Major Yander Hasty Castillo said it was an “international drug trafficking operation originating in the United States.”
Camila María González Font, the provincial prosecutor of Havana, said that “in recent times there has been an increase in the number of cases related to illegal drugs or substances with similar effects.”
The report also indicates that during a recent trial at the Provincial People’s Court of Havana15-year sentences were requested for two foreign citizens involved in drug trafficking crimes.
These individuals had been detected with cocaine inside their bodies when they tried to enter the country through the José Martí International Airport. In another case, the Prosecutor’s Office considered imposing a sentence of more than 10 years on an accused who was intercepted at the National Bus Terminal with a package of marijuana.
“Ninety-six percent of people who have been tried in Havana courts, whether for drug trafficking or possession, have been punished,” said Yojanier Sierra Infante, president of the Provincial People’s Court of Havana.
He also clarified that, “of all those sanctioned, 95.8% have been given prison sentences” of more than “10 and 20 years.”
The report also threatened to apply “sanctions of 30 years of imprisonment, life imprisonment and even death,” which are contained in the Penal Code approved by the regime.
The Havana provincial prosecutor also referred to “accessory sanctions” for people arrested for trafficking or possession of illegal drugs, such as “the confiscation of assets related to the criminal activity or the proceeds thereof.” “These may be houses, premises, plots of land, cars or other motor vehicles or other assets that may be confiscated,” said González Font.
On the other hand, the report repeated the official line that the Cuban State maintains a zero tolerance policy against drug trafficking and specified that Cuba is a signatory to the main legal instruments of the United Nations and has 43 bilateral agreements at the governmental level and 56 on judicial assistance with various countries.
