Drug Fight Builds US-Cuba Bridges
Fighting drug trafficking is one of the few issues where the US and Cuba
actually collaborate, albeit on a small scale, though the true extent of drug
smuggling on the island remains shrouded in mystery.
At a Senate hearing on international drug trafficking this week,
lawmakers voiced concerns about the potential for ·Cuba
to become a major transit point for drugs into the US. While discussing a surge in
drug smuggling through the Caribbean, Senator
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) warned that the island could turn into an important
distribution platform for traffickers.
Since the 1959 revolution, Cuba has presented itself as taking
a tough stance on organized crime, in part in response to the fact that, under
the Batista regime, the country was known as a haven for mob activity. During
the latest meeting of the Communist Party Congress, President Raul Castro
issued a sharp critique of corruption on the island, calling it "one of
the main enemies of the revolution." It is likely that the kind of
corruption Castro was referring to relates to bribery and embezzlement rather
than collusion with drug traffickers. The most recent high profile corruption
case in the country, for instance, involved a former minister who was convicted
of accepting bribes from a Chilean businessman.
But the country has not been immune from the international drug trade. In
1989, General Arnaldo Ochoa Sanchez, who fought alongside Fidel Castro during
the revolution, was executed along with three other military officers for their
roles in a multi-million dollar cocaine smuggling ring linked to Pablo
Escobar’s Medellin Cartel. Nine years later, in 1998, Colombian officials
intercepted a 7.2 ton shipment of cocaine bound for Cuba. According to anonymous
Colombian law enforcement authority cited by the Miami Herald at the time, the
large size of the shipment suggested that the route had been used before. "No
one dares to send seven tons at one blow unless they've tested the route,''
said the official.
Since these incidents, there has been evidence to suggest that drug
trafficking is on the rise on the island, fueled by a small but growing
domestic market. Cuba
first acknowledged the existence of this consumption in January 2003, and
promised that there would be “no impunity” for anyone caught trafficking
illicit substances.
Even with the resulting crackdown, the flow of drugs into the country
appears to be increasing. The government recently announced that they had
seized nine tons of drugs in 2011, three times more than in 2010. The majority
of this was reportedly marijuana, with only a small percentage of cocaine and
hashish.
The site of much of this drug traffic is the rural southeast province of Holguin. In 2005, the head of Cuba’s border security ministry told foreign
press that Holguin is “the region of Cuba most
affected by drug trafficking.” Since then the area has become more popular with
foreign tourists, providing both an increased market for drugs and a ready
supply of potential smugglers.
Ultimately, it should be noted that the amount of drugs that pass
through Cuba on their way to
the United States pales in
comparison to the country’s Caribbean neighbors, such as Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. For one thing,
the 50-year-old embargo makes it very difficult for drug smugglers to bring
their product into the US.
Additionally, drug trafficking is one of the rare issues in which Cuban and
American officials cooperate. As reported, the US Interests Section in Havana has a Coast Guard representative in Havana, and leaked diplomatic cables reveal a level of
engagement between the official and his counterparts in the Cuban Ministry of
Interior (MININT) on the issue of drug flights from Jamaica.
This cooperation seems to be having an effect on US-Cuba relations, at
least as they relate to crime. While State Department officials under President
Ronald Reagan publicly accused Fidel Castro of attempting to traffic drugs in
order to boost the Cuban economy, the State Department’s 2011 International
Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) acknowledges that the Cuban
authorities have made major inroads against the drug trade. In a rare note of
praise for the Castro government, it notes that “Cuba’s counternarcotics efforts
have prevented illegal narcotics trafficking from having a significant impact
on the island.”
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