This increase in seizures is an indicator of increased demand for cocaine in Europe. This disparity in price between Europe and the United States is a significant incentive for Colombian drug traffickers to expand their marketing efforts in Europe. The island of Cuba lies in a direct air and maritime path from South America to Florida. As Cuba expands its foreign trade relations, its territory will become more vulnerable to exploitation by international criminals seeking to establish new bases of operation for illegal activities, including drug trafficking. Understanding these changing trafficking trends is vital in order to take effective measures to stem the flow of drugs.
Drug traffickers continue to use Cuban waters and airspace to evade U.S. interdiction assets.
Go-fast boats from Jamaica routinely travel just inside Cuban waters to avoid contact with U.S. vessels. Traffickers also use small aircraft to transport cocaine from clandestine airfields on the Guajira Peninsula in Colombia through Cuban air space. The cocaine may then be airdropped and later retrieved by go-fasts that take the drugs to The Bahamas for further transshipment to the United States. According to Cuban police reporting provided to the Colombian Government, Cuban law enforcement has made occasional arrests of drug couriers. The majority of these couriers were transporting kilogram quantities of cocaine to European countries, although occasional deliveries were made to traffickers operating in Cuba.