Drug Issues In Latin America
There are many popular Spanish speaking countries in Latin America with Cuba being the largest island in the Caribbean. Found just off the coast of Florida, the communist country of Cuba has many crime issues which include a large commercial sex trade and drugs. The age of consent is 16 whereas it is 18 in the United States. Cuba is surrounded by countries used as cartel way stations. Latin American drug flows to the United States are shifting away from Mexico and toward the Caribbean.
Fidel Castro ran into a drug smuggling scandal during his tenure as president. In return for massive payoffs, Fidel Castro was providing the protection of Cuban ports and territorial waters to major drug smugglers shuttling between Latin America and the southeastern United States. In 1989, a high ranking military commander, General Arnoldo Ochoa, along with three others, was involved in a drug-smuggling scandal. As their trial went on he was found guilty of taking bribes from Colombian cocaine traffickers. This was used to send a zero-tolerance statement to anyone else in the government about the temptations of drug riches. In a country where government officials …show more content…
Harder drugs bring even harder time. Drug-sniffing dogs are a fixture of the baggage claims at Cuba’s international airports. In 2013, Cuban courts sanctioned 628 individuals on drug-related charges, 273 of whom received jail sentences ranging from six to 10 years, according to the U.S. report. The Cubans make phone calls and send e-mails to U.S. authorities — sometimes including photographs — about suspected drug boats. Violence from drugs is not common, as the market for drugs is small. Although Cuba’s location is ideal for the transshipment of drugs, it is not used often due to the heavy police/military presence. The government is strict in its enforcement of laws against the illegal use, sale, and smuggling of
Fidel Castro ran into a drug smuggling scandal during his tenure as president. In return for massive payoffs, Fidel Castro was providing the protection of Cuban ports and territorial waters to major drug smugglers shuttling between Latin America and the southeastern United States. In 1989, a high ranking military commander, General Arnoldo Ochoa, along with three others, was involved in a drug-smuggling scandal. As their trial went on he was found guilty of taking bribes from Colombian cocaine traffickers. This was used to send a zero-tolerance statement to anyone else in the government about the temptations of drug riches. In a country where government officials …show more content…
Harder drugs bring even harder time. Drug-sniffing dogs are a fixture of the baggage claims at Cuba’s international airports. In 2013, Cuban courts sanctioned 628 individuals on drug-related charges, 273 of whom received jail sentences ranging from six to 10 years, according to the U.S. report. The Cubans make phone calls and send e-mails to U.S. authorities — sometimes including photographs — about suspected drug boats. Violence from drugs is not common, as the market for drugs is small. Although Cuba’s location is ideal for the transshipment of drugs, it is not used often due to the heavy police/military presence. The government is strict in its enforcement of laws against the illegal use, sale, and smuggling of