Authorities arrested several individuals in Santiago de Cuba for their alleged involvement in the receiving of stolen dielectric oil from transformers, among them drivers and owners of private vehicles dedicated to passenger transport.
The information was disclosed by Héroes del Moncada, a spokesperson profile for the regime and affiliated with the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), which stated that members of the National Revolutionary Police (PNR), the Technical Investigation Department (DTI), and inspectors are involved in the investigations.
The publication offers few concrete details about those detained and is filled with slogans and propaganda language, but it provides some relevant elements regarding a practice that, as the profile itself acknowledges, has become frequent in recent months.
The text also adopts a warnings tone towards those involved in these events, emphasizing their consequences and concluding with a call to report and not be "complicit" in those practices.
According to that version, during the investigations, the fuels used by private vehicles to transport passengers were analyzed, and mixtures of diesel with dielectric oil, diesel with fuel oil, and even fuel oil used as the sole fuel were detected.
The profile described those involved as "receivers of the product," although it did not disclose how many were arrested, their identities, where the arrests took place, or what specific charges were filed against them.
The removal of dielectric oil is primarily carried out in electric transformers, where the liquid serves both insulation and cooling functions.
When extracted, the equipment may go out of service and cause prolonged blackouts.
The regime's spokesperson maintained that these thefts harm the electrical system and ultimately affect both residential areas and state facilities, including hospitals, water pumping stations, and other services intended for the population.
He also warned about the danger for those who illegally manipulate transformers, a risk that has already had deadly consequences in Santiago de Cuba.
In April of this year, a man died and another suffered serious burns after an explosion while they were attempting to steal dielectric oil from a bank of transformers in Songo La Maya.
The two individuals involved were brothers, and the authorities reported that they had recovered 70 liters of the product near the location.
Months earlier, another death had been reported due to the same practice.
In September 2025, a man lost his life while attempting to extract oil from a transformer on the Siboney Road after coming into contact with a live part of the equipment, also leaving the La Fortaleza farm without electricity.
The connection between stolen oil and private vehicles is not new either.
In December 2024, a man was arrested in Contramaestre for selling dielectric oil stolen from transformers to motorcycle riders and other vehicle drivers, who supposedly used it as a lubricant.
Another serious incident occurred in November of that year, when the theft of 300 liters of dielectric oil left the Dos Caminos community in the municipality of San Luis without electricity, as it caused a failure in the electrical infrastructure of the area.
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