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A considerable amount of marijuana was seized by the police and the Technical Investigation Directorate (DTI) after intercepting a vehicle in the municipality of Contramaestre, in Santiago de Cuba.
The drugs were intercepted in a private car on the Central Highway, in the town of América Libre, located in the mentioned municipality.
The information was shared by the official Facebook profile «Héroes del Moncada», linked to the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), a page systematically used to broadcast police operations with a triumphalist approach.
According to official information, several individuals were transporting the cargo to another area of the territory with the intention of selling it in the informal market.
According to the publication, the report reached the page through the testimony of a citizen.
"The consumption of drugs, considered illegal in our country, has negative consequences for people's health, as well as disorders and negative behaviors within the social sphere. We must not underestimate the harm they can cause nor allow them to affect our lives or those of our loved ones. Against drugs: zero tolerance," concluded the official report.
The publication did not specify the exact amount of drugs seized, nor did it report how many people were arrested or the identities of those involved.
Background in the same area
The Central Highway of Contramaestre has been a recurring scene for anti-drug operations.
In May 2025, the Provincial Court of Santiago sentenced two young men to 12 years in prison for transporting 501 grams of marijuana on that same route inside a Transtur bus heading to Havana.
In April 2025, another man received 12 years for transporting 485 grams from Contramaestre to Camagüey.
A 28-year-old man from Baire—a locality within the same municipality—was sentenced to nine years for trafficking marijuana and synthetic cannabinoids known as "the chemical" in the Popular Councils of Baire, Maffo, and Lumumba.
Santiago de Cuba, judicial epicenter
In July 2025, a 55-year-old man was sentenced to nine years in prison for transporting 230 grams of marijuana in Palma Soriano.
In June 2025, the same profile "Héroes del Moncada" reported the arrest of a man in Sigua with over 19,000 seeds and 950 marijuana plants in the backyard of his home.
The figures that the regime acknowledges
Drug-related crimes in Cuba increased by 115% in 2025 compared to 2024, and by 336% compared to 2023, according to official data.
The MININT reported the seizure of 1,941 kg in 53 maritime resupply operations during 2025, and 27 kg additional in 31 hindered air operations.
Nationwide, at least 40 variants of synthetic cannabinoids are circulating, having spread from Havana to the eastern provinces, primarily affecting young people.
Legal framework and official campaign
The Cuban Penal Code (Law 151 of 2022), tightened by the Opinion 476 of the People's Supreme Court in August 2025, establishes penalties ranging from 10 to 30 years for drug trafficking, with the possibility of life imprisonment or the death penalty in aggravated circumstances.
Since June 2025, the regime initiated the "Third National Exercise for the Prevention and Combat of Crime, Corruption, and Social Indiscipline," which includes exemplary trials, coordinated raids, and calls for citizen collaboration
Despite the deployment of resources and the tightening of penalties, drug trafficking in Cuba has not decreased; it has grown exponentially for three consecutive years, demonstrating that the exclusively punitive approach does not address the structural causes—economic crisis and lack of prospects—that drive many Cubans towards illegality.
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