Neighbors capture suspected thief in El Vedado: "He snatched a cell phone from a neighbor who was about to enter his home."

Residents of 27th Street between N and O, in El Vedado, detained a man on Wednesday afternoon who allegedly snatched a cell phone from a neighbor as he was about to enter his home, according to a post on Facebook by Pedro Lizardo Garcés Escalona, president of the Rampa Popular Council in the Plaza de la Revolución municipality.

The official shared images of the detainee sitting on the pavement, surrounded by neighbors, and reported that the individual was taken to the Revolutionary National Police (PNR) unit located at Zapata and C, in Vedado itself.

"This afternoon, residents on 27th Street between N and O apprehended the individual shown in the images after he snatched a cellphone from a neighbor who was about to enter his home," wrote Garcés Escalona on his profile.

The detained individual is depicted in the photographs as an adult man with a shaved head and a slender build, sporting tattoos on one arm, a nose piercing, and wearing a white printed T-shirt.

Garcés Escalona also called on possible previous victims of the same individual to come forward at that police unit: "Those who have been victims of his criminal actions can go to the aforementioned unit."

The official closed their publication with a slogan directed at the residents of the area: "In the Rampa Popular Council, take your hand away from where the rooster pecks you!"

This is not the first time Garcés Escalona has turned to social media to share this type of content.

In June, neighbors in Vedado apprehended another man who assaulted a young woman to steal her electric scooter at the corner of J and 21, also within the Rampa Popular Council, and the official followed the same procedure: posting images of the detainee and directing the victims to the unit at Zapata and C.

This pattern of neighborhood captures has intensified throughout 2026 in a context of increasing insecurity in Havana.

In May, neighbors caught an alleged cell phone thief in El Vedado who was on a prison pass at that time. In June, over 30 burglaries were reported in homes within a single week in the area bordered by Zapata and 23, and between Paseo and 12.

In early August, the regime showcased alleged thieves arrested in Havana with the slogan "The streets belong to the people," a practice that human rights organizations have criticized for violating basic procedural guarantees by publicly exposing individuals before any judicial process.

The security situation in Cuba is backed by statistics: the Cuban Citizen Audit Observatory recorded 2,833 verified crimes in 2025, an increase of 115% compared to 2024, of which 1,536 were thefts.

The Ministry of the Interior itself acknowledged in February 2026 a 25% increase in property crimes, which it attributed to the "complex economic situation," without taking institutional responsibility for the deterioration of public order.