Drug Flow Through Haiti Cut Sharply by Embargo
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The trade embargo against Haiti has sharply curtailed the flow of illegal drugs through the impoverished Caribbean country, cutting off a trade that provided some military leaders and some of their civilian supporters with millions of dollars a year, United States officials say. Until United States and other foreign warships began taking up stations off Haiti in mid-October, Drug Enforcement Administration officials say, cocaine was regularly flowing through the country to Florida. But officials who follow Haiti and monitor drug trafficking say the political tensions in Haiti and the line of ships offshore have caused traffickers to give the country a wide berth. “Drug traffickers are going to avoid Haiti until they can see who to negotiate with,” said Thomas Cash, the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Miami. “The security of the product is key to them.” Clear Disruption Seen One senior Administration official said the embargo was clearly disrupting drug trafficking. “All those navy ships and cutters are having an effect, preventing cocaine from getting in there,” he said, “and most important, from coming out.” Others placed cocaine trafficking in a broader context, noting that the drug trade was just one of many industries controlled by the military or its supporters that have been hurt by the embargo. Only oil and arms are currently on the list of items barred by the embargo, but as oil dries up manufacturing and transportation are collapsing, cutting incomes across the board.’ More : query.nytimes.com |