Jose Abrantes; Cuban Interior Minister Who Was Imprisoned

Jose Abrantes, the former Cuban interior minister who was serving a 20-year prison sentence for negligence and misuse of government funds. Abrantes was jailed along with six of his aides after a drug-trafficking scandal that rocked Cuba in the summer of 1989. He was convicted of abuse of authority, negligence in his duties and improper use of government funds. He was stripped of his rank of general. The purge of the interior ministry followed the execution of Angola war hero Gen. Arnaldo Ochoa and three other senior army officers for their involvement in drug trafficking. On Monday of an apparent heart attack in his Havana prison cell. He was believed to be in his 50s.