Three men were captured in Holguín with more than 35 kilograms of cocaine concealed in a compressor

In an operation carried out in the municipality of Báguanos, in Holguín, Cuban police agents arrested three individuals who were transporting more than 35 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside an industrial compressor, according to sources linked to the Ministry of the Interior (Minint).

The arrest took place in the town of Camazán, on the road connecting Báguanos with Mayarí, when the alleged drug traffickers were traveling in a passenger car that contained the equipment, reported this Thursday on the Facebook profile El Cubano Fiel.

According to sources cited by the page, the suspects modified the compressor to hide the drugs: they opened the tank, inserted the packages, and then sealed and painted it to make it look like it was factory-made.

The precision of the PNR operation suggests that the authorities already had prior information about the shipment of cocaine and the method used to conceal it, the report warned.

The identity of the detainees was not disclosed, although the publication shared photos of the three, handcuffed and with their faces covered by emojis; as well as images of the compressor and the packages of drugs inside it.

The ingenious modus operandi in this case highlights the audacity of drug traffickers in Cuba for the transportation and distribution of these illegal substances. Drug trafficking networks have also deployed increasingly cunning methods to smuggle cocaine and marijuana into the country, using everything from hygiene products to food and religious objects.

Both the illegal sale and consumption of narcotics have reached alarming levels on the island, especially in the last five years, despite the regime's attempts to control them as part of its "zero tolerance" policy against drugs.

The Supreme Court of Cuba issued a serious warning in August regarding the increase in the sale and consumption of synthetic drugs (the cannabinoids known as “chemical” or “papeleta”) in the country, particularly in Havana, and approved a ruling with harsher punitive measures against those who possess or distribute these highly harmful substances.

The Minint recently announced that more than 1,500 people have been arrested in drug operations, many of whom are in preventive detention.

Last week, the Provincial People's Court of Holguín sentenced three individuals - two men and one woman - to terms of between six and eight years in prison for offenses related to possession, trafficking, and consumption of drugs.

In Havana, a court sentenced a 15-year prison term to another Cuban accused of trafficking cocaine and synthetic cannabinoids.

Although the penal sanctions have been intensified and exemplary sentences imposed against traffickers, the government strategy seems inadequate to stop the phenomenon, which has become another concern for Cuban society, already affected by the economic crisis and the daily shortages of basic necessities.

Frequently asked questions about drug trafficking in Cuba