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In Havana, delegates from
eight countries coordinate anti-drug trafficking strategy

DELEGATES from eight South American, Caribbean and Central American countries met in Havana to develop a joint strategy against drug trafficking, with the objective of closing the maritime channel through which cocaine and heroine are transported in boats and sailboats from Columbia to the United States and Europe

Representatives of the security forces of Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic inaugurated the Regional Course on the Control of Maritime Commercial Traffic, organized in cooperation with the French police, on November 14.

"Drug trafficking utilizes every means of communication and routes. Every time we block one method, they immediately come up with another. We are always one step behind. We have to move forward a little at a time in this battle against drug trafficking and money laundering," said Jean Michel González, commissioner of the French police.

González, who also represents the Inter-ministerial Anti-drug Training Center (CIFAD) —located in Martinique—, stressed that drug traffickers are using sailboats with increasing frequency to send drugs to Europe.

"Our priority now is the maritime channel, the utilization of merchant ships for drug trafficking, which is one of the most used methods in the world, along with sailboats. We are preparing for that," confirmed General Jesús Becerra, head of the Cuban National Anti-Drug Authorities.

According to data from the Cuban Ministry of Justice, 40% of the drugs that enter the U.S. are transported through the Caribbean, the United States being the principal consumer of narcotics. Likewise 65% of the cocaine destined for Europe comes mostly from Colombia.

"We are convinced that it is not possible to fight alone, but instead in a regional manner, involving police institutions, customs, ports, and national guards," added the French delegate who presented the course.

In this regard, General Becerra stated that "contacts with the United States continue with the same politic." Nevertheless, "we have maintained a position of international cooperation under an integral protocol; they have constantly refused that so we have cooperated in a case by case context," he stressed.

"This battle must be multilateral, preventative and cooperative in nature, especially among our countries located in a geographic environment in which the dimensions of drug trafficking significantly threatens us all," stated Colonel Damián Mederos, second in command of the Cuban Forces Training and Preparation Authorities. (AFP)