This week, agents from the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) intercepted several individuals at the Christ Checkpoint, at the entrance to Santiago de Cuba, who were transporting over 300 cigars and numerous boxes of Popular cigarettes without legal documentation in a private vehicle.
The Facebook profile "Héroes del Moncada," associated with the PNR, reported on the operation and presented it as a police success. The citizen reaction, however, was different: irony, skepticism, and a question that was repeated without an official answer.
"That's great! Now I can go buy them at the store," wrote a user. Another was more direct: "Well, the million-dollar question: where did all that come from?"
The price of a box of standardized Populares cigars, according to the supply booklet, is 30 Cuban pesos, but they are almost never available in stores. In the informal market, the same product can reach values between 450 and 600 pesos.
Regarding the scarcity in the state-run stores and the abundance in the informal market, an internet user noted: "On the side of the Camagüey market, there are 100 times that amount seized. Where it comes from, we don't know."
Amid the current crisis, it was a user who perhaps captured the most honest mood of all: "You have to smoke to erase the stress," she said.
The question of the final destination of the confiscated products was another central theme in the comments. "In the end, those cigars only changed hands, because they will likely end up being sold at the same price as they are on the street," wrote a user.
Some users directly pointed to the state distribution chain as the source of the tobacco trafficking problem in Cuba. "The main culprits are the executives, as it is easier for them to sell it in bulk to the resellers and keep their fair share," wrote one commenter.
There were those who wanted to go beyond the confiscation: "Now trace the string to see where it came from and who authorized it." And another person demanded, "Good job, now let's find the factory."
In April 2026, an EMPA worker in Jiguaní was arrested for stealing thousands of cartons from a state warehouse, causing damages exceeding 10 million pesos.
In July, authorities intercepted quintals of tobacco leaves illegally transported from Pinar del Río to Havana. That same month, Customs seized over 4,200 cigars at José Martí airport on a flight destined for Panama.
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