A worker from the Electric Company in Jovellanos, municipality of the province of Matanzas, was arrested this week on charges of sabotage to the electrical system after selling illegal connections to neighbors in the neighborhood and causing the explosion of a transformer that supplied more than 50 homes, according to a post from the official page "Con Todos La Victoria".
The arrested individual was identified as Yadiel Hernández Morejón, who worked as a lineman and took advantage of his access to the electrical network to install illegal connections in several houses on 10th Street in Jovellanos, charging each homeowner "a large sum of money" for the service, according to complaints from the neighbors themselves.
According to the version broadcasted by that official media outlet, "the transformer that provides power to more than 50 houses exploded due to the overload from so many illegally hung wires," which sparked suspicions and led the authorities to identify the culprit.
The page linked to the Matanzas government described the incident as sabotage and framed it within its "Zero Tolerance" campaign against crimes and social indiscipline. As of now, there is no independent official confirmation from the Electric Company or the judicial authorities of Matanzas regarding the formal charges against the detained individual.
The case is not isolated. Last July, residents of Calabazar, in Boyeros, detained two linemen from the Electric Union caught selling electricity illegally and prioritizing private businesses over residences, while they were in an official vehicle with cash and boxes of beer. The Electric Union (UNE) described that episode as a “isolated act of corruption” and promised measures.
Jovellanos ranks among the municipalities in Matanzas most affected by crimes against electrical infrastructure. As of May this year, provincial authorities had processed around 40 individuals linked to more than 10 criminal networks and had 33 pending reports, mostly related to the theft of dielectric oil from transformers in Matanzas. The province also recorded eight substations out of service and 63 damaged transformers.
The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, attributed in July part of the blackouts affecting Cuba to the theft of electrical components, a phenomenon that has surged in parallel with the deepening energy crisis.
Those convicted of sabotaging energy infrastructure face severe penalties. Article 125 of the Cuban Penal Code establishes imprisonment terms ranging from seven to 15 years at the base level, and from 10 to 30 years — or even life imprisonment — in aggravated cases. The Supreme People's Court reported that 100% of those judged for sabotage against the electrical grid between January 2025 and the first quarter of 2026 received sentences exceeding 10 years, and on August 20, a 12-year sentence for the theft of 120 liters of dielectric oil from a transformer was reported.
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