(3 Jul 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Havana, Cuba – 02 July 2025
1. Various of drug-sniffing dogs among passengers at Havana’s José Martí International Airport
2. Baggage in conveyor belt at airport
3. Screens showing cameras checking passengers and equipment
4. Customs officers checking cameras
5. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jorge Luis Bubaire, head of airport customs:
"We do not allow anything that promotes drug use to enter the country. No exceptions, zero tolerance. We even impose administrative fines on anyone trying to bring drugs into the country, even if the quantities are negligible for personal use."
6. Various of baggage check
7. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Pilar Varona, Vice Minister of Justice:
"The observatory will have interconnected links with all the actors of the society but also be used to address the drug issue inside and outside the country because it will connect with the network of observatories that exist not only in the European Union, which are already associated with the United Nations, but also with those of the region."
8. Various of customs officials checking passenger documents
9. Airport
10. Tourists having their pictures taken with the Cuban flag
STORYLINE:
Passengers arriving at José Martí International Airport in Havana on Wednesday were greeted by police accompanied by drug-sniffing dogs.
A familiar sight in many parts of the world, but unusual on the socialist island.
Cuba announced the launch of a National Drug Observatory, the first of its kind on the island, as recent reports indicate an increase in illicit substance use and a tightening of the official zero-tolerance policy.
"The observatory will have interconnected links with all the actors of the society", explained Deputy Justice Minister Pilar Varona during a press conference.
She also said it will be connected internationally with observatories in the European Union and the region. The institution will officially open on July 4.
Cuba has a strict zero-tolerance policy against drugs, including possession, sale, or trafficking, with severe penalties of up to 30 years, life imprisonment, and the death penalty, which exists in Caribbean law but is not currently enforced.
Property confiscation is also imposed.
However, in the last five years, official media reports show an increase in seizures of synthetic cannabinoids and substances like carbamazepine and other benzodiazepines, sometimes mixed with animal anesthetics, formaldehyde, fentanyl, and phenobarbital— a mixture Cubans call "quimicos" (chemicals) on the streets.
This year, reports of "exemplary" trials and police operations made headlines in newspapers and official websites.
The authorities did not provide exact figures for the quantities involved.
AP Video by Ariel Fernández and Milexsy Durán
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