CRACKDOWN

Cuba Busts 17 in Russian Human Trafficking Scheme Recruiting Soldiers

The young Cubans targeted by the network were allegedly sent to fight in Ukraine.

Cuban authorities said Thursday that they had arrested 17 people allegedly connected to a Russian human trafficking network luring young Cuban men into the Russian military to fight in Ukraine. The arrests come after Cuba said earlier this week that it is attempting to “neutralize and dismantle” the trafficking ring operating both in Russia and Cuba. “As a result of the investigations, 17 people have been arrested so far, among them the internal organizer of these activities," Cesar Rodriguez, a colonel with Cuba’s Interior Ministry, said late Thursday. Rodriguez did not name any of the detainees but said the network’s leader relied on two people living in Cuba to recruit targets to be sent to Ukraine. Prosecutor Jose Luis Reyes said those involved in the trafficking ring could receive life sentences or even the death penalty depending on the severity of their charges, which could include human trafficking, fighting as a mercenary, or hostile action against a foreign state.