The absence of Cuba as a collaborating country of USA in the annual report of its strategy to confront drug trafficking It would be supported for political reasons, according to assessments by island authorities.
In statements this Tuesday before the press, Ybey Carballo, head of the Staff of the Border Guard Troops, considered that there is “a political intention on the part of the State Department”, by ignoring Cuba’s cooperation in the report corresponding to the year 2025, reports the Efe agency.
Cuba “is not a threat” to the United States, as President Donald Trump alleges, but rather “a containment wall” against drugs sent from South America to that country, says Colonel Juan Carlos Poey, head of the Anti-Drug Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior. #AFP pic.twitter.com/4M4oU6TGJ0
— Agence France-Presse (@AFPespanol) February 17, 2026
“It is not rational that this happens in a country (Cuba) that permanently provides information to the main consumer of drugswhich is the United States,” added the First Colonel.
According to his criteria, this exclusion could be a strategy to apply to the island a military operation similar to the one carried out against Venezuela on January 3, and which resulted in the arrest and transfer to the United States of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, both accused of drug trafficking activities.
The official highlighted the island’s “service record” in the fight against drug trafficking and said that it has been “transparent,” the publication adds.
In the State Department reports on the subject, corresponding to 2024 and previous years, it was recognized that Cuba “is not an important consumer, product, or transshipment point of illicit drugs,” the media recalls.
Regarding Washington’s decision to declare the island an extraordinary threat to its national security, Carballo maintained that “Cuba has nothing to fear.”
He also commented that the 2024 State Department report, and previous years, had recognized that the Caribbean island “is not a major consumer, producer, or transshipment point of illicit drugs.”
Contact level
The idea that relations between the anti-drug trafficking structures of the United States and Cuba have diminished was confirmed to the press by Colonel Juan Carlos Poey, head of the Specialized Anti-Drug Confrontation Body of the Ministry of the Interior (Minint).
The high-ranking military officer assured that there is “exchange of messages with border guard troops, but this should not be confused with the fact that there is fluid communication” with the United States.
The Cuban Government denies any link with drug trafficking and targets the United States
Poey specified that since 2016 a cooperation agreement was implemented with the United States that has been affected by the first term of President Donald Trump “when it comes to implementing fluid exchange with the services of that country.”
He explained that, despite this situation, Cuba maintains its willingness to cooperate, due to the presence of shared “risks”, just as it does with the neighboring northern nation and other nearby nations, such as the Bahamas, Jamaica and Mexico.
Illustrative figures
In another part of his speech, Poey explained that synthetic drugs currently have the most widespread presence in Cuba and added that, for the most part, they come from the United States.
The official confirmed that during the past year around 76 kilograms of these synthetic drugs were seized in the country, especially aboard vessels intercepted in Cuban waters.
Cuba dismantles a drug trafficking network that introduced a million doses of “the chemical”
In the case of maritime arrivals, the drugs seized last year reached 1,941 kilograms, according to information published by the Granma newspaper.
At the end of 2025, 31 air operations had been hindered, in which 27 kilograms of drugs were seized, mainly cocaine, synthetic cannabinoids and methamphetamines.
These narcotics came from 11 countries, and among them the United States appears as the main emitter.
The joint figures for 2024 and 2025 indicate that 75 operations of this type were aborted in the country, which allowed the authorities to seize more than 100 kilograms of drugs.
Cuba toughens penalties against the growing trafficking and consumption of the “chemical”
In turn, the head of the Ministry of Justice (Minjus), Rosabel Gamón, admitted that the country faces “risks from traditional routes,” and reaffirmed the criminal policy of “maximum rigor” in the face of crimes related to drug trafficking.
To this he added that, after the approval of the 2019 Constitution, criminal and administrative regulations have been updated that reinforce rigor against drug-related crimes, in line with the State’s zero tolerance policy.
