Joint forces of the MININT dismantled a drug trafficking network in the municipality of Centro Habana, in an operation that resulted in 13 arrests and six home searches carried out in the Colón and Los Sitios neighborhoods.
Of the 13 arrested, nine are facing criminal charges for drug trafficking, according to sources in the case. The information is preliminary, and authorities recommend verifying it with official reports, which have not yet been released.
Five of the six records were concentrated in the popular council of Los Sitios, primarily focused on Reina Street, between Campanario and Lealtad. Images circulated on social media since Wednesday showed official vehicles and the presence of agents in that area.
Among the seized evidence are packages that apparently contained cocaine, 184 strips, two credit card-sized cutouts, and half a letter-sized sheet impregnated with synthetic cannabinoids, as well as mobile phones and cash in both Cuban pesos and dollars.
The investigation remains open. Authorities do not rule out further searches or arrests, so the number of those involved could increase in the coming hours.
The operation takes place in one of the Havana municipalities with the highest history of drug-related activity. Centro Habana was identified back in 2018 as the municipality with the highest number of addicts in all of Cuba, and its popular councils Colón and Los Sitios have frequently been the scene of police raids.
In August 2025, two individuals were arrested for selling "chemicals" on Amistad Street, between Dragones and Reina, in the Colón district. Months earlier, in April of that year, police arrested a man in Los Sitios with 20 crack rocks and nearly 176,000 Cuban pesos.
Since 2025, the MININT has intensified anti-drug operations in Havana under a declared policy of zero tolerance. In September of that year, authorities reported over 1,500 arrests for drug-related offenses in the capital alone and the dismantling of five criminal networks.
In February 2026, a cocaine selling point was raided in Plaza de la Revolución with two arrests, over 100 packages, and 800,000 pesos seized.
Synthetic cannabinoids—commonly referred to as "chemicals" or "papers"—and cocaine are the most frequently encountered substances in these operations.
According to a report by the AP agency on the use of synthetic drugs in Cuba, a dose of "chemical" costs around 250 Cuban pesos, and Cuban laboratories have detected at least 46 new synthetic formulas in the past year.
José Martí Airport accounts for 77% of the detected trafficking cases at Cuban borders, according to data released in July 2026, with shipments primarily concealed in imported food products.
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