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Viewing cable 08HAVANA952, 2008 CUBA INCSR FIRST DRAFT

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08HAVANA952 2008-12-24 13:42 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED US Interests Section Havana
VZCZCXYZ0008
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHUB #0952/01 3591342
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 241342Z DEC 08
FM USINT HAVANA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3975
UNCLAS HAVANA 000952 
 
SIPDIS 
 
INL FOR JOHN LYLE, WHA/CCA FOR RICARDO ZUNIGA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CU SNAR
SUBJECT: 2008 CUBA INCSR FIRST DRAFT 
 
REF: STATE 100970 
 
I.    Summary 
 
1.  Cuba is strategically located in the Caribbean between 
the United States and the drug producing countries of South 
America.  Although Cuba is neither a significant consumer nor 
a producer of illegal drugs, its ports, territorial waters, 
and airspace are susceptible to narcotics trafficking from 
source and transit countries.  In 2008, the GOC continued 
"Operation Hatchet," a multi-force counternarcotics 
interdiction operation, and "Operation Popular Shield," a 
nationwide counternarcotics public awareness campaign.  Cuba 
also carried out some operations in coordination with the 
U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Drug Interdiction Specialist (DIS) at 
the U.S. Interests Section (USINT) in Havana.  Cuba is a 
party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. 
 
II.   Status of Country 
 
2.  The GOC regularly detects and monitors suspect vessels 
and aircraft in its territorial waters and airspace.  In 
cases likely to involve narcotics trafficking, it regularly 
provides detection information to the USCG.  In addition to 
dedicating social service resources to improve prevention, 
the GOC also has the legal framework within its criminal 
justice system to prosecute and assign stiff penalties to 
narcotic users and traffickers.  Cuban anti-narcotic 
officials claim that these stiff penalties are the driving 
force behind a low drug abuse rate in the country. 
 
3.  According to Cuban statistics, Cuba's internal drug 
consumption levels are among the lowest in the region.  Lack 
of discretionary income and an overwhelming state police 
presence limit access to drugs by the Cuban population and 
contribute to the low incidence of drug consumption.  To 
elude capture near Cuban territorial waters, international 
drug traffickers throw contraband from speedboats, providing 
the main source of supply to the local market.  The GOC is 
active in regional drug control advocacy, wherein the GOC has 
established an auxiliary force by training and educating the 
"pueblo," or the Cuban community.  All Cubans are responsible 
for responding appropriately to the discovery of actual or 
suspected narcotics that wash-up on their shores.  The GOC 
claims to have trained employees at sea-side resorts and 
associated businesses, including fishermen, in narcotics 
recognition and how to communicate the presence of illicit 
narcotics to the appropriate Cuban Border Guard (CBG) 
personnel or post.  This approach serves as a 
force-multiplier for the GOC as its interdiction capability 
is limited by a lack of resources necessary to upgrade its 
counternarcotic assets and technical equipment. 
 
4.  The USG has not been assured by the GOC that effective 
rules of engagement are in place to prevent the inappropriate 
use of deadly force during counternarcotics trafficking 
operations.  In May 2007, the leading Cuban Communist 
newspaper, Granma, declared that Cuba's territorial waters 
would never be a safe corridor for traffickers.  This 
statement came after a Cuban Border Guard patrol boat shot 
and killed two Bahamian drug traffickers.  The GOC claims the 
drug smugglers rammed their vessel and the traffickers were 
killed in self-defense during an exchange of gunfire. 
 
III.  Country Actions Against Drugs in 2008 
 
5.  Policy Initiatives.  The Cuban government reported that 
it had strengthened its cooperation with INTERPOL in 2008 
with whom they maintain a working relationship on drug cases 
in Cuba and investigations into suspected international drug 
trafficking rings.  In 2008, Cuba turned over 1 fugitive to 
INTERPOL who was involved in illicit narcotic activity. 
Cuban DNA personnel attended 4 interdiction and inspection 
counternarcotic training courses offered by international 
partners. 
 
6.  Accomplishments.  In all, between January and September 
2008, the GOC seized 1,723.5 kilograms of narcotics (1,675.7 
kilograms of marijuana and 46.8 kilograms of cocaine), and 
trace amounts of crack, hashish, and other forms of 
psychotropic substances.  In comparison, in 2007, 2,644.9 
kilograms were seized by the GOC as a result of its various 
interdiction efforts. 
 
7.  In April, Cuban authorities assisted Jamaican anti-drug 
personnel with the disruption of a marijuana trafficking case 
by providing real-time information, resulting in the 
detention of the traffickers, and the confiscation of a 
trafficking aircraft that contained a load of marijuana.  In 
July, information provided by the CBG operations center in 
Havana led USCG assets to a drug-laden go-fast in the 
Windward Pass.  Upon realizing the USCG had discovered their 
vessel, the traffickers discarded their contraband into the 
sea which led to the wash-up of 172 packets of marijuana 
along the coasts of 4 Cuban provinces, totaling 916.49 
kilograms.  Further, Cuban DNA investigated the entrance into 
Cuban territorial seas of a group of Dominican fishing 
vessels, which led to an investigation of the vessels and 
their operators who were suspected of illicit, 
narcotics-related activity. 
 
8.  From January through September 2008, 250 packets of 
narcotics washed-up along the Cuban coast, resulting in the 
collection of 1,682 kilograms (1,651 kilograms of marijuana 
and 31 kilograms of cocaine).  During 2008, the principal 
source of drugs for the Cuban internal drug market continued 
to be drug wash-ups; washed-up narcotics are aggressively 
collected and stored for eventual incineration to avoid 
proliferation and sale on the internal market. 
 
9.  In 2008, according to the GOC, Cuba's airports were used 
only sporadically to transfer drugs towards third countries 
or to supply the Cuban domestic market.  GOC reports that 
international drug traffickers have recently shown interest 
in trafficking various narcotics to Cuba for sale with 
domestic criminals.  GOC believes this is due to the high 
market price for narcotics in Cuba compared to the relatively 
low prices found in other countries in the region.  At Jose 
Marti International Airport in Havana, 6 drug smuggling 
attempts were thwarted by Cuban authorities, wherein 15.4 
kilograms of cocaine and 1.3 kilograms of marijuana were 
seized.  Three of these events were attempts to introduce the 
narcotics into the domestic market, and two incidents 
involved couriers or "mules" who were trafficking narcotics 
for delivery to Europe.  The final case was the discovery of 
6 kilograms of cocaine on an aircraft destined for an 
undisclosed third country. 
 
10.  In all, 163 travelers were detained for possession of 
small quantities of narcotics, believed to be for personal 
use.  Reflecting past actions, the GOC fines those tourists 
and the narcotics are seized.  Individuals are warned about 
Cuban's regulations that prohibit the trafficking and 
possession of narcotics, and allowed to continue with their 
trips. 
 
11.  Cuba's "Operation Popular Shield," in place since 2003, 
is intended to minimize the availability of drugs on the 
domestic market.  Cuba detains, tries, and punishes 
individuals who are in possession of and who intend to 
distribute narcotics, as well as seizes their assets.  The 
GOC asserts that they have in place the necessary legal 
instruments to properly carry out this operation, both penal 
and administrative.  Per the GOC, their actions are in-line 
with international commitments as a state party to control 
and fight against illicit drug trafficking. 
 
12.  GOC claims that the price of narcotics in Cuba remains 
high.  Per Cuban information, 1 ounce of marijuana cultivated 
in the Cuban countryside is sold at 130 Cuban Convertible 
Pesos (CUC), and a marijuana cigarette is priced at 3 CUCs. 
An ounce of marijuana from abroad is sold at approximately 
330 CUCs and a cigarette costs around 5 CUCs. 
 
13.  Cocaine, crack and small amounts of hashish, trafficked 
to Cuba from abroad, are limited to the capital city of 
Havana in small doses, most of which are sold below the 
quantity of 1 gram in the case of cocaine.  Cocaine is sold 
for prices ranging from 60-120 CUCs.  Other drugs, per the 
GOC, are not sold in Cuba, to include synthetic drugs, 
amphetamine stimulants, and opium. 
 
14.  Law Enforcement Efforts.  The GOC's lead investigative 
agency on drugs is the Ministry of Interior's National 
Anti-Drug Directorate (DNA).  The DNA is comprised of 
criminal law enforcement, intelligence, and justice 
officials.  Cuban Customs Authorities maintain an active 
counternarcotics inspection program in each of Cuba's 
international maritime shipping ports and airports. 
 
15.  Cuba's "Operation Hatchet," in its eighth year, is 
intended to disrupt maritime and air trafficking routes, 
recover washed-up narcotics, and deny drug smugglers shelter 
within the territory and waters of Cuba through vessel, 
aircraft, and radar surveillance from the Ministry of 
Interior's Border Guard and Ministry of Revolutionary Armed 
Forces (Navy and Air Force).  Operation Hatchet relies on 
shore-based patrols, visual and radar observation posts and 
the civilian fishing auxiliary force to report suspected 
contacts and contraband.  Between January and September 2008, 
Cuban laQenforcement authorities reported "real time" 
sighting of 35 go-fast vessels and 3 suspect aircraft 
transiting their airspace or territorial waters. 
16.  Corruption.  As a matter of policy, the GOC does not 
encourage or facilitate the illicit production or 
distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other 
controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds from 
illegal drug transactions.  The U.S. Government does not have 
direct evidence of current narcotics-related corruption among 
senior GOC officials.  No mention of GOC complicity in 
narcotics trafficking or narcotics-related corruption was 
made in the media in 2008.  It should be noted, however, that 
the media in Cuba is completely controlled by the state, 
which permits only laudatory press coverage of itself.  Crime 
is almost never reported. 
 
17.  Agreements and Treaties.  Cuba is a party to the 1961 UN 
Single Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol, the 1971 
UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 UN 
Drug Convention.  The GOC cooperates with the United Nations 
Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention and maintains 
bilateral narcotics agreements with 32 countries and less 
formal memoranda of agreement with 2 others.  Cuba has also 
subscribed to 56 bilateral judicial assistance conventions. 
Finally, the Cuban Ministry of Interior maintains operational 
exchanges with anti-drug authorities from approximately 57 
countries. 
 
18.  Cuba was represented at the 51st session of the 
Commission on Narcotics at the United Nations in Vienna; the 
second regional summit regarding the global problem of drugs 
in Colombia; the eighteenth meeting of the Heads of National 
Law Enforcement Agencies (HONLEA) in Honduras; and in two 
meetings of the working group for the exchange of narcotics 
intelligence among the European Union, Latin America, and the 
Caribbean.  Havana will be the site of the next meeting in 
May 2009.  The Cuban government continues to pass real-time 
information to agencies with similar concerns regarding the 
involvement or suspicion of the movement of narcotics via air 
or sea, including incidents of suspect merchant ships, crews, 
or cargo. 
 
19.  Cultivation/Production.  As in past years, GOC reports 
that the availability of marijuana and the consumption of 
psychotropic drugs is on the downslide due to joint-DNA and 
Ministry of Public Health's initiatives.  In 2008, such 
efforts yielded the seizure of 23.8 kilograms of narcotics as 
a result of illicit, domestic drug activity.  The production 
and harvest of marijuana is also down, and incidents of 
marijuana harvests are considered "isolated" by the GOC. 
Cuba is not a source of precursor chemicals, nor have there 
been any incidents involving precursor chemicals in 2008. 
 
20.  Drug Flow/Transit.  Cuba's 4,000 small keys and its 
3,500 nautical miles of shoreline provide drug traffickers 
with the locale to conduct clandestine smuggling operations. 
Traffickers use high-speed boats to bring drugs northward 
from Jamaica to the Bahamas, Haiti, and to the U.S. around 
the Windward Passage or via small aircraft from clandestine 
airfields in Jamaica.  Commercial vessels and containerized 
cargo that are loaded with drugs pose an increasing risk to 
Cuban ports.  Mules continued to traffic small quantities of 
narcotics to and from Europe through Cuba's international 
airport in Havana.  As Cuba continues to develop its tourism 
industry, the likelihood for an increased flow of narcotics 
into the country will rise. 
 
21.  Domestic Programs.  The governing body for prevention, 
rehabilitation, and policy issues is the National Drug 
Commission (CND).  This interagency coordinating body is 
headed by the Minister of Justice, and includes the 
Ministries of Interior, Foreign Relations, Public Health, and 
Public Education.  Also represented on the commission are the 
Attorney General's Office and the National Sports Institute. 
There is a counternarcotics action plan that encompasses the 
Ministries of Health, Justice, Education, and Interior, among 
others.  In coordination with the United Nations, the CND 
aims to implement a longer-term domestic prevention strategy 
that is included as part of the educational curriculum at all 
grade levels. 
 
22.  The majority of municipalities on the island have 
counternarcotics organizations.  Prevention programs focus on 
education and outreach to groups most at risk of being 
introduced to illegal drug use.  The GOC reports that there 
are 3 international drug dependency treatment centers and 198 
community health facilities in Cuba consisting of family 
doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, occupational 
therapists, and 150 social, educational, and cultural 
programs dedicated to teaching drug prevention and offering 
rehabilitation programs. 
 
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives 
 
23.  Bilateral Cooperation.  The U.S. has no counternarcotics 
agreements with Cuba and does not fund any GOC 
counternarcotics law enforcement initiatives.  In the absence 
of normal bilateral relations, the USCG DIS officer assigned 
at the USINT Havana acts as the main conduit of 
anti-narcotics cooperation with the host country on a 
case-by-case basis.  Cuban authorities have provided DIS 
exposure to Cuban counternarcotics efforts, including 
providing investigative criminal information, such as the 
names of suspects and vessels; debriefings on drug 
trafficking cases; visits to the Cuban national canine 
training center and anti-doping laboratory in Havana; tours 
of CBG facilities; and access to meet with the Chiefs of 
Havana's INTERPOL and Customs offices. 
 
24.  Road Ahead.  U.S. counternarcotics efforts in Cuba face 
a number of obstacles.  The current Cuban regime's long 
history of anti-Americanism in rhetoric and action has 
limited the scope for joint activity and made bilateral 
dealings always subject to political imperatives.  Cuba's 
Drug Czar has raised the idea of greater counternarcotics 
cooperation with the USG.  Commander-in-Chief Raul Castro has 
called for a bilateral agreement on narcotics, migration, and 
terrorism.  However, these approaches have not been offered 
with forthright or actionable proposals as to what the USG 
should expect from future Cuban cooperation.  The USG 
continues to encourage Cuba,s full participation in regional 
interdiction efforts. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FARRAR