CUBA JAILS CANADIANS ON DRUG CHARGES

6 Tourists Arrested Aafter Cocaine Allegedly Found In Their Luggage

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba is holding six Canadian tourists for suspected
drug-smuggling after cocaine was allegedly found in their luggage, foreign
diplomats said yesterday.

"The embassy can confirm that six Canadians are being detained," a Canadian
embassy official said in Havana.

The six, four men and two women, were arrested Nov. 8 at Havana airport
after arriving from Jamaica. A seventh member of the group, a pregnant
woman, was released.

According to police, 30 kilograms of cocaine was found in their luggage,
some of it concealed in hollow coat-hangers.

It was not immediately clear whether the cocaine was intended for
distribution in Cuba or whether it was headed for a destination outside the
island.

The group had return tickets to Jamaica.

A Canadian embassy consular officer visited the six in detention. The Cuban
authorities are expected to press formal charges against them and
eventually bring them to trial.

External affairs said yesterday the names of six are not being released.

It was believed to be the largest number of Canadian nationals ever
arrested in Cuba for a suspected drug offence.

Two other Canadian citizens are currently serving sentences of 12 and 15
years in a Cuban jail after being convicted of smuggling marijuana.

Since the Communist-ruled island opened up to foreign tourism in 1990, more
and more Canadians have been travelling to Cuba.

More than 200,000 Canadians are expected to visit this year.

The Caribbean island is in the middle of major air and sea drug-smuggling
routes that link producing areas in Latin America and user markets in the
United States and Europe.

Cuban authorities have moved to stop their countly from being used as a
transit point by international drug-smugglers.

Cuban officials say drug use is not widespread on the island but has now
started because of tourism and the influx of foreign visitors.

Checked-by: derek rea