A young man was captured by neighbors in Havana after allegedly breaking into a home to steal while its occupants were inside, in an incident marked by tension and violence.
A video published by the portal Cubanos por el Mundo shows the moment when residents of the area manage to intercept him. As seen in the footage, the individual, under the influence of "the chemical," was caught between the rubble of a nearby collapse.
During the arrest, some neighbors attacked him in a wave of indignation over the attempted robbery. The situation escalated until a police officer, who was in the area, intervened to prevent the young man from being seriously harmed and protected him from the residents' anger.
The young man, visibly intoxicated and exhibiting clear psychological issues, was detained at a scene that, according to the cited source, "reveals two sides of the crisis that Cuba is experiencing: on one hand, the desperation of citizens fed up with insecurity taking justice into their own hands; on the other, a young man turned into a victim of 'the chemical'."
"The chemical" is a synthetic cannabinoid whose potency is 50 to 100 times greater than that of marijuana, mixed with fentanyl, formaldehyde, benzodiazepines, and veterinary anesthetics.
It is sold in doses of paper soaked for just 250 Cuban pesos, less than a soda, making it accessible even for the most impoverished sectors of the island.
The 90% of users become hooked from the first dose, according to sources from the Ministry of Interior (MININT).
In 2025, more than 800 people were admitted to emergency rooms just in Havana due to intoxications with this drug, and the authorities acknowledged 46 new formulations circulating on the streets.
The phenomenon primarily affects young people aged 16 to 40 years in marginalized neighborhoods, with 75% concentrated in the 20 to 30 age range in municipalities such as Centro Habana.
Citizen insecurity worsens the situation: the Cuban Observatory for Citizen Audit recorded 2,833 verified crimes in Cuba in 2025, an increase of 115% compared to 2024 and 337% compared to 2023, with 1,536 thefts as the predominant crime.
Havana was the third most affected province, with 398 reported cases.
The National Revolutionary Police is also facing a 20% desertion of its personnel, a lack of fuel and vehicles, and prioritizes political repression over citizen security.
Multiple citizen reports indicate that the regime of Díaz-Canel does not address the expansion of drugs and responds with harsh penalties for users, but lacks real prevention and rehabilitation programs.
As noted by Cubanos por el Mundo, "thousands of families are witnessing how their young people on the island go from being brave protesters to victims of a cheap drug that turns them into 'zombies', unable to organize, work, or protest."
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