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The police of the municipality of Placetas, in the province of Villa Clara, 25 gas cylinders during a public raid conducted at a residence last Thursday, as part of the Fifth National Exercise for the Prevention and Combat of Crime, Corruption, Drugs, Illegal Activities, and Social Indiscipline.
According to the official publication on the MININT spokesperson page "Fuerza del Pueblo - Unidos por Villa Clara," the seized cylinders consisted of nine 100-pound tanks and ten 25-pound tanks, and they were intended for "illegal economic activities."
The authorities presented the operation as a demonstration of the police's role in the "effective safeguarding of state assets, preventing them from being stolen or used for illicit purposes."
The Fifth National Exercise was launched on May 18 by Miguel Díaz-Canel from the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, via videoconference with provincial authorities.
Among the prioritized areas for this exercise are fuel control, monitoring of the national electricity system, and the production, storage, and marketing of food.
The government also announced the holding of "about twenty exemplary trials" related to crimes against the electrical system and fuel diversion.
The diversion and illegal resale of gas cylinders is a recurring phenomenon in Cuba, exacerbated by the chronic shortage of the product.
In June 2025, the Ministry of the Interior dismantled a network in Sancti Spíritus dedicated to the theft and illegal resale of gas cylinders, where the illegal price of a full "balita" reached 30,000 Cuban pesos.
In July 2025, in Artemisa, the manager of a gas station faked a robbery to divert 40 cylinders; the authorities were only able to recover 20.
The shortage of liquefied gas in Cuba has reached critical levels in 2026, with supply interruptions of up to two months reported in several provinces, driving demand in the black market and making cylinders a highly valued illicit commodity.
The Fifth Exercise was activated days after popular protests were recorded between May 13 and May 17 in at least 12 municipalities of Havana, described as the largest since July 11, 2021, and at a time when the Cuban Observatory of Conflicts recorded an increase of 29.5% in protests compared to April 2025.
In the December 2024 exercise, the regime conducted over 508,000 inspections and imposed over 313,000 fines, resulting in a collection of 814 million pesos, highlighting the scale of these periodic operations.
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