Three Cubans arrested for robbery at a grocery store in Havana

Three Cubans were arrested for stealing basic food items from a store in Havana. The rise in thefts highlights the economic crisis and the state's reliance on citizen collaboration.

Delito en una bodena de La Habana © Collage Facebook / Héroes de azul en Cuba
Crime in a Havana warehousePhoto © Collage Facebook / Heroes in Blue in Cuba

The National Revolutionary Police arrested three individuals early Tuesday morning involved in the theft of items from the Standard Basic Basket at a warehouse located in Jovellar, between L and M, in the Rampa People's Council, Havana.

The official Facebook page "Héroes de azul en Cuba" reported the capture, stating that the individuals entered the establishment by force with the intention of stealing goods intended for the population.

Facebook Capture / Heroes in Blue in Cuba

The criminal act, thwarted solely thanks to the intervention of neighbors who alerted the authorities, resulted in the arrest of those responsible nearby and the recovery of the stolen goods by the police.

The incident highlights the State's reliance on citizen cooperation to combat the rising level of crime, as authorities insist that "there is no truce with crime."

However, this case highlights the profound impact of the economic crisis on the island, where access to the Standard Basic Basket, essential for the survival of many families, has become a trigger for desperation and social conflict.

An example occurred in 2023 when the police arrested two men who were accused of robbing a store in Havana after intimidating the guard with a knife.

On Facebook, the profile identified as El Cubano Fiel, linked to the Ministry of the Interior, shared photos of the two alleged thieves. Although the images are pixelated, at least one of them appears to be very young.

The problem is not limited to Havana. A total of 48 robberies occurred in the warehouses of the province of Las Tunas during the first half of 2024, primarily concentrated in the capital territory and in the municipality of Puerto Padre, with a significant increase during the months of July and August.

The municipalities of Las Tunas and Puerto Padre account for 73 percent of the reported robberies with force during the first six months of the year, according to the government-aligned Periódico 26.

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