Cuba Reiterates “Zero Tolerance” Policy Against Drugs

Customs official at Jose Marti International Airport. Jun. 27, 2023.

Published 27 June 2023

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"...the island has seen increasing attempts to smuggle illicit drugs in 2023..."

On Monday, President Miguel Diaz-Canel stated that Cuba continues to carry out a zero-tolerance policy against narcotics.

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"Cuba ratifies its zero-tolerance policy against that global scourge," President Diaz-Canel said on Twitter, adding that the Cuban government constantly combats drug trafficking.

On early Monday, Cuban daily newspaper Granma said that local authorities will continue to boost international collaboration against illegal drug trafficking.

The director of management and risk control at the General Customs of the Republic of Cuba (AGR), Nelson Gutierrez Acosta, said that the island has seen increasing attempts to smuggle illicit drugs in 2023.

En el Día Internacional de la Lucha contra el Uso Indebido y el Tráfico Ilícito de Drogas, #Cuba ratifica su política de tolerancia cero contra ese flagelo mundial. Nuestro país, que no escapa a su impacto aunque con registros muy inferiores, mantiene un enfrentamiento permanente pic.twitter.com/rzXw6pbrzw
— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) June 26, 2023

On the International Day to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, #Cuba ratifies its zero-tolerance policy against this global scourge. Our country, which does not escape its impact, although with much lower records, maintains a permanent confrontation

Gutiérrez also pointed out that these attempts are mainly seen in Havana's José Martí International Airport, as well as the air terminals of Santiago de Cuba and Holguín.

At the end of May, 20 cases of drug trafficking were detected, three more than in all of 2022, and a total of 14 kilograms of this illicit substance were seized, with cocaine predominating, ecstasy and brolamfetamine were also found, he added.

In January this year, the AGR inaugurated in Havana an office to enhance real-time operational communication between international airports in order to counter organized crime, illicit drug trafficking and terrorism.