Fraud involving fake water in Ciego Montero uncovered in Cuba; one suspect arrested

A truck loaded with large volumes of bottles of water falsely labeled as the brand Ciego Montero was discovered in Cienfuegos, and at least one person has been detained in connection with the fraudulent scheme, according to the official profile Las cosas de Fernanda on Facebook.

The released images show the rear platform of a cargo truck with bottles stacked in several staggered rows, featuring blue caps and transparent labels, parked in an urban area of the city. The organized arrangement of the product suggests a large-scale distribution operation.

The fraud involves filling empty original Ciego Montero containers with uncertified water and reselling them as if they were legitimate products from the brand, a practice described as “common in Cuba” that poses a direct health risk to consumers.

Los Portales S.A., the producer of Ciego Montero mineral water, attempted to curb this type of fraud in April 2024 by introducing a new security seal on the bottles that adds a dual authentication system: a seal at the junction of the cap with the ring, in addition to the existing laser marking.

However, the case revealed this month in Cienfuegos shows that security measures have not eradicated the problem, and that counterfeiting operations have escalated to involve trucking large quantities of product.

Fraud occurs in a context of widespread scarcity of basic goods in Cuba, where the high demand for bottled water makes Ciego Montero a recurring target for this type of deception.

Ciego Montero is one of the most recognized bottled water brands in the country, produced in the town of the same name in the Cienfuegos province, which makes that community particularly sensitive to its counterfeiting.

The group "Cienfuegueros 100%" serves as a platform for citizen reporting for residents and natives of Cienfuegos, and the post about this case received 164 reactions, reflecting the community's concern over a practice that endangers the health of those consuming the adulterated product.

The detention of at least one person involved indicates that the authorities acted following the public complaint, although the scale of the operation uncovered raises questions about the depth of the network behind the fraud.