MIAMI _ Although Cuba is near Caribbean drug lanes and the U.S. market, the U.S. State Department's annual narcotics control report found that it's not a major consumer, producer or transit point for illegal narcotics, and that drug consumption on the island remains low.
The report to Congress, which was released Friday, discusses the record of countries around the world in fighting the global drug trade. It is the first time since 2008 that the report was released to the media.
William Brownfield, assistant secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, says the U.S. is experiencing "perhaps the worst drug crisis that we have seen in the United States of America since the 1980s, and the worst heroin and opioids crisis that we have seen in the United States in more than 60 years."
But Cuba and the United States have begun to work more closely against the drug trade. A new U.S.-Cuba agreement was signed in July 2016, and there is a U.S. Coast Guard liaison in the U.S. Embassy in Havana to coordinate with Cuban law enforcement. Direct communications between the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Cuba's National Anti-Drug Directorate began in July.
The Coast Guard and Cuban authorities have been sharing tactical information on vessels in Cuban waters that are suspected of trafficking, and are coordinating responses.
"Cuba's intensive security presence and interdiction efforts have kept supply down and prevented traffickers from establishing a foothold," the report to Congress says. "Cuba concentrates supply reduction efforts by preventing smuggling through territorial waters, rapidly collecting wash-ups, and conducting thorough airport searches."
The most recent maritime seizure of drugs by Cuban authorities was in 2015. That year, the Cuban government seized 906 kilograms of illegal drugs, including 182 kilos of cocaine, 700 kilos of marijuana and 24 kilos of hashish oil. That same year, Cuban authorities detected the incursions of 48 suspicious go-fast boats along the island's southeastern coast.
In July 2016, 11 Cubans were sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison for smuggling marijuana from Jamaica through Cuba to the Bahamas, the report says. The principal organizer was extradited from Jamaica, a country with which Cuba also shares information on suspected trafficking.
The report to Congress also looks at money-laundering and financial crimes around the world.
"The government-controlled banking sector, low internet and cellphone usage rates, and lack of government and legal transparency render Cuba an unattractive location for money-laundering through financial institutions," the report says.
Although the risk of money-laundering is low in Cuba, the report said Cuba has a number of "strategic deficiencies" in its anti-money-laundering program.
