Havana/During this Monday’s broadcast of the Tesa Redonda program, the authorities recognized that, in Cuba, drug use expands and diversifies, especially towards synthetic substances, “cheaper and less risky for the trafficker.” And among them the chemical It is still the king of narcotics on the island.
Beyond the concrete data that demonstrates a worrying propagation of drugs, the television program was a reiteration of the usual arguments: the fault is outside, mainly in the United States, and the country is a passive victim of external forces that have managed to infiltrate the national territory. The “main effects” to the country, came to declare Juan Carlos Poey Guerra, head of the Anti -Drug Directorate of the Ministry of Interior, citing a United Nations report, are due to the “growing flow of travelers, the settlement of Cubans in high complexity countries and with drug trafficking and organized crime”.
As for the data, Poey declared that more than 6,000 people have been prosecuted, there have been 1,500 seizures – with 81 kilograms of confiscated drugs, which Cubadebate described as “a very high volume of potential consumption” -, in addition to the confiscation of five firearms, 11,000 plants and 23,000 seeds – presumably dope-, and 18 million pesos in different currencies.
A quick boat was also intercepted on the coast that transported 36.8 kg of cocaine, a fact that Poey took the opportunity to highlight the interior work: “For other countries the volume is insignificant. For us any volume is important.”
Another of the Pillars of Interior speech was, as usual, the signaling of the US responsibility in the arrival of drugs to the island. According to Poey, which also described the current military presence of that country in the Caribbean as a risk for national sovereignty and regional stability, the United States is the main drug consumer in the world, and Cuba is on the route that narcotics travel to reach their borders.
However, the military himself recognized at another time that the island “is not a producer, warehouse or drug traffic towards third countries.” It also overlooked that, although the US has always been a great consumer, it was not until a few years ago that the presence of drugs began to grow in Cuba to the point that even the official press, formerly silent on the subject, now considers it a undeniable reality.
Poey remarked that the ‘chemist’ is the narcotic “of greater impact on our society at the moment”, something that associated with the boom of synthetic drugs
Poey remarked that chemical It is the narcotic “of greatest impact on our society at the moment”, something that associated with the rise of synthetic drugs – doors in laboratories – which are “a big business and lucrative: less money invested, faster they get it and they sell it faster.” Naturals like marijuana, he said, take longer to occur.
Despite this, the military insisted, many programs are carried out to prevent and detect consumption, starting with the National Campaign against Drug Trafficking, “which is executed monthly throughout the country since January, with operations extended in the capital due to its complexity.”
Although the military did not mention it in his report, Interior has also been responsible for the severe sentences imposed on traffickers and narcotics consumers are exemplary. Both Cuban television and the official press have dedicated in recent months numerous reports to expose drugs related to drugs and Cubans have noticed it. The communities, Poey said, “claim, in general, more public trial and more prosecution.”
As for the positive part: “We can officially certify that there is no fentanil in our country,” he said. Although the presence of other substances leaves its brand in consumers. A month ago, Poey himself declared on Cuban television that 45 types of cannabinoids can be found on the island, of the 250 that circulate globally and that arrive, in some cases, to be up to 50 times more powerful than heroin.
