A public oral trial for the crime of drug trafficking, specifically synthetic cannabinoids — popularly known as “químico” — took place in the First Criminal Chamber of the Matanzas Provincial People’s Court.
According to information published by the newspaper Girón, the trial is part of the zero tolerance policy for these types of crimes.
The Provincial Prosecutor’s Office requested a nine-year prison sentence for the defendant, YGR, 22, a native of San Miguel del Padrón and Havana resident.
According to the text, which identifies the suspects only by their initials, YGR acquired the drugs in Havana, made homemade cigarettes and sold them in the city of Cárdenas.
The second suspect, identified as AVU, alias “El Abuelito,” 24, and a resident of Cárdenas, faces a request for eight years in prison.
According to the investigation, AVU had been reselling this drug for some time at a price of 300 Cuban pesos per unit.
The prosecutor described the business as “lucrative but with a high social cost due to its harmful effects on human health.”
YGR’s arrest took place at the Bacunayagua checkpoint following an alert from the Matanzas Anti-Drug Section.
Drug trafficking crime
The defendant was found with 10.1 grams of synthetic drugs hidden in a backpack, equivalent to more than a thousand cigarettes ready for sale, considering that a single gram can produce between 100 and 120 doses.
Both defendants face charges under Article 235.1, paragraph a) of the Penal Code, which punishes trafficking in illicit drugs or substances with similar effects with penalties of between 4 and 10 years of imprisonment.
The parties will be notified of the sentence on July 17, according to the newspaper Girón. Once the court’s decision is issued, the defendants and the Prosecutor’s Office will have the right to file an appeal for cassation, in case of disagreement, so that the case can be reviewed by the Supreme People’s Court, the country’s highest judicial instance.
