Luggage arrived days later and was looted: Cuban family reports the robbery of an elderly woman in Havana

A Cuban family reported on social media this Monday the theft of an elderly woman's luggage at José Martí International Airport in Havana, after her belongings arrived late and were ransacked.

According to a post on Facebook by an individual identified as LeydisYoel Silva, her grandmother traveled from Miami to Havana with her luggage well packed.

However, upon arriving on the island, her luggage did not arrive with her, and she had to wait two days to receive it, a common situation on charter flights, where the excessive load of baggage from agencies often leaves the luggage of many passengers in the U.S. When she recovered her bags, she discovered that they had been opened in her absence and ransacked.

"I wonder, where is the empathy towards an elderly person carrying her medications, given that Cuba lacks all kinds of necessities?" wrote the person making the complaint, noting that essential items for her grandmother were missing from the luggage.

Additionally, he questioned the lack of responses and mechanisms for complaints in these cases: "Who can we turn to for an answer? A lot of money is spent on these trips and in the end, they are just authorized thieves," he added in his post.

Similarly, the affected family contacted CiberCuba to report the incident and request assistance in spreading awareness of the case.

In their message, they specified that they are from the Isle of Youth and that the luggage delay forced them to stay two days in Havana, until they were finally informed that their bags had arrived on Sunday.

"Once we arrived at terminal 2 of José Martí International Airport, our luggage had already been opened and several items were stolen. They did not provide us with any response. I believe they took advantage of the fact that my grandmother was traveling alone; it's an abuse against an elderly person who relied on those medications. I feel ashamed that such things happen in Cuba," they expressed.

Cases like this have often been reported by travelers entering Cuba through José Martí Airport, where complaints about luggage being held, looted, or missing have increased in recent years.

Without an efficient complaint system and with the economic crisis worsening corruption in airport terminals, passengers are left defenseless against these kinds of abuses.

The operational chaos at Abel Santamaría International Airport in the city of Santa Clara was highlighted on social media last January, when videos and images began circulating of congested hallways filled with luggage, especially from travelers arriving from the United States.

The journalist from Univisión 23, Mario Vallejo, shared images that clearly show a disorder in luggage handling and expressed his astonishment upon confirming the authenticity of the scenes.

"Really? When they sent me these images, I couldn't believe it. I had to make calls to the Santa Clara airport to convince myself that it wasn't a fake using artificial intelligence," wrote the journalist, noting that the issue lies in charter flight operations.

This problem occurred in the midst of the extension by the Cuban government of the tariff exemption for the importation of food, hygiene products, and medicines by travelers arriving in the country.

In February, a flight departing from Cuba to the United States carried only six passengers on board who had the entire plane to themselves.

The unusual event took place last Saturday and was shared on TikTok by the user Christian, one of the six travelers, who could not contain his astonishment and admitted he did not understand why the aircraft was empty.

"The business is in the belly of the plane," said an internet user identified as Cubanito 2025 in the comments section of one of the shared videos.

Many Cubans share the opinion that it was a charter flight without passengers, but filled with packages sent by agencies for businesses on the Island.

Frequently Asked Questions about Baggage Theft at José Martí Airport in Havana