Burn baby burn

Take a look at this picture. When Cuba burns a sack of marijuana, they mean business. Fidel Castro has declared his own war on some drugs, declaring the fight a national security issue. Authorities say the drug trade moved in along with the tourists when travel restrictions to the country eased in the mid 90s. I know nothing about maritime law but I have a little problem with the way they seized the weed.

The case involving the Jamaicans occurred in November, after a suspicious boat leaving the Jamaican town of Ocho Rios was identified. Working with Jamaican and U.S. Coast Guard officials based in Miami, Cuban authorities intercepted the speedboat off the island's northern coast Nov. 8, arresting all three men aboard.

Over the next 10 days, Cuba deployed hundreds of anti-drug agents to search for drugs believed to have been tossed off the boat. Twenty-five sacks containing more than 1,320 pounds of packed marijuana were recovered.

Call me suspicious but couldn't someone else besides the Jamaicans have thrown those bales out there into the sea to be conveniently found?

The blazing spectacle was part of an international press conference meant to highlight their beefed-up interdiction program and the 25 bales were transported to the local steel company "where they were hoisted up by a massive crane and thrown into a blazing cauldron."

In the understatement of the week, the interior ministry's Lt. Col. Elio Cobiella said watching the flames, "I don't think there's any way any marijuana's left in there."