In another exemplary trial, in Las Tunas, a young man was sentenced to one year in prison for possession.
14ymedio, Havana, May 26, 2025 — The immediate result of the current “national exercise” against drugs -the third in six months in the country and the fifth in Havana- is, as in previous ones, the publicity for the exemplary trials that are being carried out. Both Periódico 26 and Sierra Maestra give an account of two of them.
The first, for which no date is given, was carried out in the Criminal Section of the Municipal Court of Las Tunas and sentenced a youth, 22, to one year’s imprisonment for possession of drugs: in this case, the synthetic cannabinoid popularly known as químico [chemical]. The sentence imposed on him was, according to the provincial newspaper, “the upper limit of the penalty framework for this type of crime.”
The second, held in Santiago de Cuba, was more serious. Two men aged 25 and 30 were sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for “offenses related to illicit drugs or substances with similar effects” in case number 28 of 2025.
Both were arrested by the police on the Central Highway at the Santiago municipality of Contramaestre
Both were arrested by the police on the Central Highway at the Santiago municipality of Contramaestre, reports Sierra Maestra, when they were traveling in a Transtur bus to Havana. They were found, the newspaper continues, “with 501 grams of cannabis sativa oil, commonly known as marijuana, a digital scale with remains of the aforementioned plant and cash.”
According to the official newspaper Sierra Maestra, both were being monitored by the National Anti-Drug Directorate “because of their continued illegal actions. Despite their knowledge of the existing prohibitions in our country on the sale of drugs and their harmful consequences for health, they did not hesitate to commit the crime.”
A few days after the start of what they call the third National Exercise on Drug Prevention and Control, on May 18, the government reinforced this new campaign with a half-hour lecture by spokesman Humberto López on a program of Hacemos Cuba.
In it, the authorities revealed that, far from decreasing, narcotics trafficking and consumption continue to increase. The químico, they said, comes into Cuba in disposable diapers, energy-saving light bulbs and false suitcase bottoms, especially from Mexico. It is brought in by Cuban emigrants who live in that country and come to the Island for a visit.
Preliminary data on Havana are particularly worrying. There are 342 people charged with drug trafficking and consumption, most of whom are in pre-trial detention. There are 810 files opened by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Republic in connection with these crimes, committed in 74 “complex environments” in the capital.
In the same space, they denied an article that appeared in Escambray, according to which a new químico, more powerful than the one used by Cubans, would be circulating on the Island. Despite the fact that the report of the official newspaper of Sancti Spíritus included photographs of the product and testimonies from consumers, Colonel Héctor González Hernández, second head of the anti-drug section of the Ministry of the Interior, denied it. Broadly, he summarized, the químico remains “a synthetic cannabinoid made in clandestine laboratories abroad, mainly in the United States.” However, he admitted that among the 400 “formulations” detected, some could be “stronger.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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