A police operation in the municipality of Playa, Havana, concluded on October 1 with the arrest of an individual known by the nickname «Ardilla», to whom authorities seized 131 doses of synthetic cannabinoids —referred to in Cuba as “the chemical”— and cash allegedly obtained from trafficking.
The information was shared by the Facebook profile of Elizabeth Ferrer, associated with the MININT, and replicated by official pages such as Televisión Cubana. The post, written in a colloquial tone, described the detainee as someone who "had set up his drug-selling business right in the neighborhood and had more than one family on edge."
The images accompanying the publication show the arrested individual shirtless, wearing camouflage shorts and white sandals, with bills scattered on the ground in front of him. A second photograph displays dozens of small folded papers—the typical wrappers of the substance—over a bill.
According to the official publication, the neighborhood residents celebrated the arrest. "The neighbors have been asking for a long time for him to be put behind bars," said Ferrer, who added, "Here, no one sells with impunity."
"The chemist" is the street name for synthetic cannabinoids in Cuba, also referred to as "papelito" because they come in strips of paper soaked with the substance. Experts describe them as being 50 to 100 times more potent than marijuana, with risks of seizures, psychosis, and severe intoxication. The combination with fentanyl, formaldehyde, or benzodiazepines further increases the danger of overdose.
Its price—about 250 Cuban pesos per dose, which is approximately 0.50 dollars—makes it one of the cheapest and most accessible drugs in the Cuban illegal market, especially among young people aged 14 to 25. According to official data cited by AP, medical emergencies related to this cause in Havana nearly doubled: from 467 cases in 2024 to 886 in 2025.
The case of the "Ardilla" adds to a series of operations that the MININT has intensified in the capital during 2026. In mid-September, an operation in Centro Habana resulted in 13 arrests and the seizure of cocaine along with 184 strips of synthetic cannabinoids. Days later, two operations in Guantánamo resulted in several arrests linked to marijuana and "chemical."
Cuban authorities have identified at least 46 variants of synthetic cannabinoids circulating in the country, noting that most of them arrive from the United States via air and package deliveries. In July 2026, Cuban Customs detected drug shipments hidden in food boxes coming from that country at José Martí airport.
The social alarm regarding the spread of the "chemical" goes beyond police reports. On October 2, Cuban intellectual Rodolfo Alpízar Castillo publicly alerted about the growing consumption in the Santos Suárez neighborhood, describing scenes of young people affected in public spaces and asking, "How much longer do we have to wait?".
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