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Two individuals were arrested this Tuesday in the vicinity of 23 and J, in El Vedado, Havana, after a man was caught stealing a woman's purse in broad daylight.
The event was reported by the pro-government Facebook page "Gente de Barrio", managed by Pedro Lizardo Garces Escalona, who published photographs of both detainees and alerted the community about the incident.
According to the publication, the man was not acting alone: "at noon today, the criminal we showed in the photo was caught pickpocketing a woman in the vicinity of 23 and J, the 'individual' was accompanied by the citizen we also showed".
The local population acted swiftly and captured the man just a few meters from the site of the robbery, before handing him over along with his companion to agents of the National Revolutionary Police (PNR). Both were taken to the PNR Unit located at Zapata and C.
The publication invites those who have been victims of these individuals to come forward at that police unit: "anyone affected by these criminals can go to the aforementioned unit."
The area of 23 and J, popularly known as La Rampa, is one of the busiest thoroughfares in El Vedado, with a high flow of pedestrians, residents, and tourists.
This area of the capital has been the scene of multiple documented criminal incidents in recent years, including cellphone thefts, attempted vehicle thefts, and violent assaults.
In May 2023, a man attempted to steal a taxi at 23 and M and was captured by witnesses; in September of the same year, the cultural promoter Ismael Jaramillo was assaulted following a robbery at 23 and G.
The incident occurs within the context of an unprecedented crime crisis in Cuba. According to the Cuban Citizen Audit Observatory, in 2025 there were 2,833 verified crimes, an increase of 115% compared to 2024 and a 337% rise from 2023, which amounts to between seven and eight crimes daily.
Thefts topped the statistics with 1,536 cases, a 479% increase since 2023. Havana was the third most affected province, with 398 reported cases.
Experts attribute this increase to the deep economic crisis facing the island: the Cuban economy contracted by 5% in 2025, accumulating a decline of 15% since 2020, according to the Center for Cuban Economic Studies at the University of Havana.
The combination of extreme poverty, social decay, and the weakening of law enforcement has created a favorable environment for the proliferation of survival crime.
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