Young man arrested at 2,000-plant marijuana crop in Songo-La Maya
Cuban police arrested a young man in Salvador Rosales, Songo-La Maya, Santiago de Cuba, while he counted seeds at an illegal marijuana plantation of more than 2,000 plants. Several other people accused of harvesting and distributing the crop were also arrested and are being processed, with no names or charges released.
🇨🇺 Salvador Rosales, Songo-La Maya, Santiago de Cuba
Cuban police arrested a young man in Salvador Rosales, a community in Songo-La
Maya municipality, Santiago de Cuba province, as he counted seeds from an
illegal marijuana crop.[1]The National Revolutionary Police, Cuba’s national
police force, carried out the detention.[2]Periódico Cubano reported the same
operation in Salvador Rosales, saying the young man was found attending a
plantation reported to exceed 2,000 plants.[3]
The crop held more than 2,000 marijuana plants.[1]The Interior
Ministry-linked Facebook page Héroes del Moncada reported the case.[1]Local
residents alerted the authorities to the illegal crop.[2]Besides the main
suspect, several other people accused of taking part in the harvest,
distribution and trafficking of the marijuana were also arrested and are being
processed in criminal proceedings.[2]Periódico Cubano reported that the other
people implicated in harvesting and distributing the crop were arrested and are
under criminal prosecution.[3]Residents of the community backed the
operation, and the authorities cited their help as a key part of it.[3]
No names or information on where the seized crop went have been released.[1]The authorities said the operation is part of the government’s Zero Tolerance
policy against drugs.[1]
No date is given for the police operation; 22 May 2025 is used as the incident date because CiberCuba, the earliest account, published that day.
The crop is described as more than 2,000 plants without an exact count, and no weight, field area or value for the marijuana was published.
No total number of people detained was given, only that several others besides the main suspect were arrested.
The age, identity and charges against the detainees were not disclosed, and no court outcome has been reported.
All three outlets attribute the account to the Interior Ministry-linked Facebook page Héroes del Moncada rather than to a police or ministry statement opened directly.
Separate earlier Santiago de Cuba cases in the same articles, including the La Tabla plantation in Tercer Frente and the April 12-year prison sentence, are different events left out of this report.
A court in Las Tunas sentenced a man to 15 years in prison in Case 115 of 2026 for trafficking marijuana with cocaine and synthetic cannabinoids in the Mexico neighborhood. Electronic surveillance showed systematic selling, and the court added loss of public rights, confiscation and a travel ban under Cuba's Penal Code.
Police detained two people in Ciego de Ávila with several pounds of marijuana hidden in sacks presented as chocolate and bound for Havana. The case was reported through an officialist Facebook account, with investigations continuing into the alleged network.
Ministry of the Interior officers at the El Bagá checkpoint in San Antonio del Sur detained a Baracoa resident carrying hashish on a Baracoa–Guantánamo bus after a drug dog alerted. The man was already serving a drug-trafficking sentence and was out on temporary prison leave.
Authorities in Havana detained one person at a bus terminal carrying a wrapper of marijuana, with prosecutors seeking more than 10 years in prison. The case was announced alongside a wider September 2024 anti-drug report, with no amount or separate event date published.
