March 30, 1962: Feds say Castro sent cocaine to demoralize U.S.
Six pounds of cocaine seized in Miami was part of a Communist Cuban plot to demoralize the nation and discredit anti-Castro Cubans, federal authorities said. The cocaine was valued at $750,000. Charles Siragusa, acting commissioner of Narcotics in Washington, said the cocaine was intended to raise money for Cuba's young Communist government, but also to further the "demoralization of U.S. citizens through the use of cocaine." A third reason, he said, was "to discredit anti-Castro Cuban refugees by encouraging their extended use of cocaine." He said virtually all of the cocaine seized in the U.S. since 1960 originated in Cuba. Read the Associated Press story in the Daytona Beach Morning Journal: Narcotics Men Seize $750,000 More In Drugs