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A Cuban identified as Juan Antonio Gutiérrez Escalona was arrested in the municipality of Perico, Matanzas province, accused of breaking the lock of a premises, stealing a calf, and illegally slaughtering it.
According to the official Facebook profile "Con Todos La Victoria", the detainee stole the animal from the town of Máximo Gómez, in the municipality of Perico, and had it slaughtered, although he was unable to take the meat before he was captured.
"Recently, authorities arrested Juan Antonio Gutiérrez Escalona for daring to cut the lock of a premises and steal a calf belonging to a local resident in Máximo Gómez, Perico. He slaughtered it behind the pen... but at least he didn’t manage to take the meat," the publication states.
The official profile warns that the detained individual has a history of crimes of this nature, including damage and theft, and that "he will face another battle with the Law to determine his fate, which will surely see him behind bars."
The note concludes with the usual triumphalist tone of this regime's propaganda channel: "The animal didn't make it to the table, but justice did reach the thief," followed by the slogan "Zero Tolerance against crime, illegalities, and social indiscipline!"
The case adds to a series of similar incidents in Matanzas.
In January of this year, two men were arrested in Limonar with several pounds of beef, bones, and offal. In March, seven masked men on horseback raided a cooperative in San José de los Ramos, stole nine cattle, and slaughtered them in a sugarcane field.
The illegal theft and sacrifice of livestock is one of the fastest-growing crimes in Cuba, driven by the economic and food crisis that has caused meat prices in the informal market to skyrocket.
The Cuban cattle herd has decreased from 3.8 million head in 2019 to just 2.9 million at the beginning of 2025, a decline of 24%, according to official data.
In response, the regime intensified the penalties with the Penal Code in effect since April 2022, which establishes prison sentences ranging from three to eight years for the illegal slaughter of large livestock, with aggravating factors that can increase the sentence to 15 years or more.
Despite the tightening of penalties, farmers report that the phenomenon is out of control. In October 2025, four slaughterers were arrested in Ciego de Ávila for systematically stealing livestock from local farmers, where they operated with total impunity.
In 2024, 1,615 people were sanctioned in Cuba for illegal livestock slaughter and meat trafficking, with 78% receiving sentences of up to 15 years in prison, highlighting that exemplary penalties do not succeed in curbing the rise of crime.
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