A man was caught by neighbors in Vedado on May 3 while attempting to steal the wheels from the trash containers located on Jovellar Street, at the intersection with L and M, and was captured by the public and handed over to the National Revolutionary Police (PNR).
The incident occurred at noon and was documented on Facebook with images by the user Pedro Lizardo Garces Escalona, delegate of Circumscription 6 of the Rampa Popular Council, in the Plaza de la Revolución municipality, Havana.
According to the report shared on social media, the detainee was taken to the PNR unit located at Zapata y C. During the arrest, the thief asked not to be filmed, a detail that became a central part of the account of the incident.
The vandalism was not limited to that location. "Gente de Barrio" reported that the containers located on Jovellar between Infanta and N, as well as those on 27 and N, were also vandalized using the same method of operation.
The community group warned that 24 new containers had recently been installed at various points in the Popular Council, and that several had already been the target of this type of theft.
"We expect a thorough investigation by the police authorities into the case that will lead to clarifying the reported events," the neighbors demanded in their statement.
The theft of wheels and metal parts from garbage containers is a chronic problem documented throughout Cuba, where the stolen materials are sold in black markets or reused privately, worsening the already deteriorating waste management system.
In Havana, the garbage crisis has intensified due to fuel shortages and breakdowns in collection trucks. In 2025, the capital generated 1.8 million tons of solid waste, but only 65% was collected due to a deficit of more than 150 compactor trucks, according to data presented to the National Assembly.
El Vedado has been a recurring scene for this type of citizen captures. In October 2024, Cubans apprehended an assailant in front of the Hotel Vedado who was snatching belongings in the street, and that same month a man was captured stealing an electric motorcycle in a home in the neighborhood.
In June 2023, neighbors captured a cell phone thief on 23rd Street between E and F, who was carrying a backpack full of other people's belongings. This practice of apprehending criminals and handing them over to the police has become increasingly common in Havana due to the perception of impunity and the slow police response.
The problem of vandalism against public infrastructure is not exclusive to the capital: garbage bins have burned in Holguín and other Cuban cities, in a pattern of decay that reflects the collapse of basic services after decades of dictatorship.
"At Rampa, get your hand off the rooster that pecks you!" concluded "Gente de Barrio" in their publication, with a local warning aimed at the thieves in the neighborhood.
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