Going to Cuba? Leave your drone at home, one Canadian man advises after 13-day lock up

[After flying his drone in a Cuban square, Toronto photographer and entrepreneur Chris Hughes says he was locked up for 13 days. YouTube/A Nerd’s World]

Chris Hughes loves to travel, but a nearly two-week stay in a Cuban detention centre was not what he planned on when he began his most recent vacation.

“I am a successful businessman from Toronto with two locations, and all of my travels are for the thrill and adventure of visiting new places,” Hughes told Yahoo Canada News.

Hughes, 38, a Toronto-based photographer and media entrepreneur, was visiting Cuba in September as part of a trip through the Americas, excited to visit and photograph.

“I love Cuba. I recommend everyone to visit Cuba,” Hughes said. “Prepare to have a wonderful time, and meet wonderful people.”

What he does not recommend is that Canadians fly drones in Cuba, because that’s what led to his arrest and detention, leaving his family unaware of what had happened and Hughes himself worrying that he would be jailed for espionage.

WATCH: Hughes’ tearful airport reunion with family after a 13-day detention in Cuba

Hughes said he had no trouble bringing a drone, which he had used to shoot photo and video in other countries during his trip, through customs into Cuba.

But when flying the drone above Plaza de la Revolucion in Havana, Hughes and a Cuban friend were questioned by police before being taken into the station, interrogated for 12 hours, and ultimately brought to a detention centre after a quick trip to his rental apartment to pick up a few personal items.

Hughes was held at the detention centre without charges for nearly two weeks, leaving his wife and children unaware of where he was or what had happened to him. When he didn’t call home for three days, his wife contacted the embassy triggering Canadian officials to hunt for him.

He was held at what he thought was an immigration detention centre and questioned by Cuban authorities in ways that made him believe they suspect him of being a spy, he said.

Global Affairs confirmed to the Toronto Star that they had provided services to a Canadian detained in Cuba, but would not identify the person. And Cuban authorities declined to provide any information to the newspaper.

Hughes’ inability to understand or speak Spanish added to the difficulty of his ordeal.

“Officials were certain that if they repeated a question three to five times I would somehow then understand what they were trying to say through osmosis,” he said.

Over his 13 days in detention he was not allowed a phone call to either his family or to the Canadian embassy. Canadian embassy officials told him that if he was found guilty of anything he risked a lengthy jail sentence, he said.

But on Oct. 11 Hughes was informed he would be returning to Canada the following morning, and the next day he was back in Toronto Pearson International Airport.

The experience has made him even more proud to be Canadian than he already was because he knew his government was working for his release, Hughes said.

“My government, through Global Affairs in Ottawa, found my detention centre in Havana after the first four or five days. I was able to meet with the secretary of the Canadian Consulate that same day,” he said. “I cannot explain the sense of relief I felt when I knew that my government and family was aware of my location and what I was being investigated for.”

Back home in Toronto, Hughes says he actually hopes to return to Cuba again as a visitor but suspects he may not be welcome back.

“I would love to return, although I am certain all this press attention is putting a big red X on my back with Cuban immigration officials,” he said.

But while he wishes he and his family had had more information about his detention — and of course that it could have been avoided entirely — Hughes takes responsibility for not making himself aware of the risks of drone flying in advance. He advises other potential travellers to Cuba, or any other country, to do the same.

“My 13-day nightmare was caused by my lack of research and I am prepared to take 100-per-cent blame,” Hughes said. “As my Mom once said, ‘If you live under my roof, you will play by my rules.’”