DEA: Official notes about Cuba and drug trafficking

CUBA DEA Office Responsible      Miami Field Division
Population      11,141,997 (July 2000 est.)
Total Area      110,860 square kilometers
Capital      Havana
Type of Government      Communist State
Next Scheduled Executive Elections      Not Scheduled
Next Scheduled Legislative Elections      2007
Top Government Officials President      Fidel Castro Ruz
First Vice President      General Raul Castro Ruz 

Although Cuba is not a major transit country for cocaine destined to the  United States, drug traffickers continue to use Cuban waters and airspace to  evade U.S. interdiction assets. Go-fast boats from Jamaica routinely travel  just inside Cuban waters to avoid contact with U.S. vessels. Traffickers also  fly small aircraft transporting cocaine from clandestine airfields on the  Guajira Peninsula in Colombia through Cuban air space. Cocaine bales are  dropped in the general area of Guinchos Cay/Cay Lobos, in or near Cuban  waters. The cocaine usually is retrieved by Bahamian go-fast boats that take  the drugs to The Bahamas for further transshipment to the United States.

Compared to previous years, the number of suspected drug overflights of Cuban  territory has declined a little since 1999. In December 1998, the Colombian  National Police (CNP) seized 7.3 metric tons of cocaine from an outgoing  containerized maritime shipment in Cartagena, Colombia. All available  information indicated that the cocaine most likely was destined for Spain via  Cuba. The seizure brought to light that Cubas role as a cocaine transshipment  point, was greater than previously suspected, especially to Europe.

Cuba experienced a surge in foreign tourist visits over the past decade, from  a few thousand in 1990 to 1.4 million in 1998. The tourist traffic not only  provides drug couriers with a means to disguise trafficking activities, but  it also created a market in Cuba for illegal drugs. Reportedly, Cuban law  enforcement officials have made occasional arrests of drug couriers. The  majority of couriers were transporting kilogram-quantities of cocaine to  European countries, although occasional deliveries were to be made to  traffickers operating in Cuba. Cuban authorities have reported only limited  instances of heroin couriers traveling to Cuba from South America. Cuba's  Ministry of the Interior is responsible for drug law enforcement. The Cuban  Border Guard (Tropas Guardas Fronteras or TGF) conducts maritime drug  interdiction and maintains liaison with the USCG. The Government of Cuba  (GOC) does not routinely release drug consumption statistics for the island.  However, anecdotal reporting indicates a rise in drug consumption in Cuba  over the past several years. The GOC claims that consumption primarily is  limited to foreign tourists visiting Cuba. In 1998, Cubans reported for the  first time the presence of crack cocaine on the island. Although reporting is  limited, money laundering in Cuba most likely.  Cuba is not an important  offshore financial center; the GOC strictly controls all financial  institutions, and the Cuban peso is difficult to convert into other  currencies.   The Cuban central bank issued regulations that encouraged banks to identify  their customers, investigate unusual transactions, and identify the source of  funds for large transactions. Reportedly, no cases have been prosecuted under  Cuban money laundering laws. There is no available information on Cuban asset  seizure laws.

Cuba is not a known source country for precursor chemicals and there is no  available reporting concerning the movement of illicit essential chemicals  through Cuba. There also is no available reporting on chemical control laws  in Cuba. The GOC signed the 1961 UN Single Convention Treaty and the 1972  protocol, the 1988 UN Drug Convention, and reportedly maintains bilateral  antidrug agreements with 26 countries. The GOC and the USG have no formal,  bilateral counterdrug treaties, but have worked together on an ad hoc basis.  The LIMERICK seizure is the most notable case of drug law enforcement  cooperation between the United States and Cuba. In 1996, Cuban authorities  assisted U.S. law enforcement authorities in the seizure of 6.2 metric tons  of cocaine from the M/V LIMERICK. Subsequently, Cuban law enforcement  officials provided court testimony in the U.S. prosecution of the LIMERICK'S  captain and crew. According to the U.S. State Department, the USG does not  make formal extradition requests to the GOC, but considers the United States  Cuba extradition treaty of 1904 to be still in effect. Informal USG requests  for the return of U.S. fugitives residing in Cuba have not been honored by  the GOC. International criminals seeking to establish new bases of operations  for illegal activities, including drug trafficking, will increasingly exploit  Cuba's territory as it opens to foreign nations.

Top ^