Two South Florida women detained in Havana

Posted on Tuesday, 07.01.14

Two South Florida women detained in Havana
BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM

A young woman and a grandmother from South Florida have been detained in
Cuba on charges that they tried to smuggle synthetic marijuana when they
landed at the Havana airport over the weekend, relatives say.

Melissa Acosta, 20, and the older woman were arrested after they had
cleared customs and were about to leave the airport, the relatives said.
Acosta was being held in the Havana jail known by its street address as
"100 y Aldavoz."

Acosta's mother, Jenny Valdes of West Kendall, declined comment for El
Nuevo Herald, saying that she had been advised to make no further public
comments because of the sensitivity of the case.

But on Monday, she told CBS4 that Acosta was arrested Saturday after she
landed in Havana with her brother's fiancé, the couple's 5-month-old
baby and the fiancé's mother.

It was Acosta's third trip to Cuba in the past month because the
fiancé's family owns a business that charges South Florida customers to
deliver suitcases filled with belongings to relatives and friends in
Cuba, Valdes told the TV station.

"I haven't slept, I mean I'm scared, I want my daughter home. She's a
good girl. She's never been in any trouble and I'm just scared for her,"
the mother told CBS4 reporter Gaby Fleischman.

The three passengers and the baby made it through customs on arrival at
Havana's José Martí International Airport but authorities at a second
check as they were about to exit the building claimed to have found
synthetic marijuana, Valdes said.

Police first detained Acosta and later took the grandmother into custody
after the older woman declared that the luggage they were carrying were
hers, according to a family friend who alerted CBS4 to the case.

"I'm just shocked. I feel she's been set up," said Valdes. Her daughter
"has a learning disability and she's got the mind capacity of a 12- to
15-year-old, so imagine being over there not speaking a word of Spanish
and being strip-searched."

Valdes said she has not been able to speak to her daughter, who is a
U.S. citizen, or obtain a visa to visit her in Havana but is doing
whatever she can to bring Acosta home. Cuba's news media has not
reported on the case.

"I love her, I miss her (and) I want her home," Valdes told the
television station. "She's scared but we're going to figure it out.
We're going to find someone who will help her."

The family is trying to hire a defense lawyer in Cuba, has contacted
several U.S. government officials for help and is asking the public to
write to the government officials to support their requests for Acosta's
freedom.

The U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana said it was aware of reports on
the arrests of two U.S. citizens and was ready to provide them with
consular services. But it could not comment further because of privacy
restrictions.

Its Web page says the mission also "cannot negotiate or secure a U.S.
citizen's release from jail (as U.S. citizens in Cuba are subject to the
laws of Cuba), but the American Citizen Services Unit can help protect
your legitimate interests and ensure that you are not discriminated
against."

Source: "Two South Florida women detained in Havana - Cuba -
MiamiHerald.com" -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/01/4213570/two-south-florida-women-detained.html