Five individuals were detained in the municipality of Colón, Matanzas, for their alleged involvement in the theft of dielectric oil and damage to three transformers located at the "La Conchita" farm, which are used to supply electricity to an irrigation turbine.
The official profile Con Todos La Victoria reported this Friday on Facebook and stated that the suspects drilled into the transformers to extract the oil from inside.
According to that version, the owner of the property caught them in the act, and the individuals fled, leaving behind 60 liters of dielectric oil distributed in three 20-liter containers.
Following the police investigation, Abdiel Miranda Mederos, Yenisel Mederos Scull, Pável Díaz Díaz, Dayan Mederos Hernández, and Jansser Amado Ortega Lima were arrested, all of whom are connected to the incident according to authorities.
The report states that during the subsequent searches, various items were seized that the authorities believe are related to the case.
They would have found clothing items supposedly linked to the incident on Miranda Mederos; on Mederos Scull, two pointed objects shaped like a bolt; and on Díaz Díaz, 300 milliliters of oil.
The publication states that the five remain detained and that the incident will be treated as sabotage.
The case occurs amid a significant increase in the theft of dielectric oil in Matanzas.
This Friday, the official newspaper Granma reported that the province accounts for over 50% of the thefts of this product recorded in Cuba and that nearly a hundred transformers have been damaged.
According to that publication, the mere replacement of the affected equipment has caused losses exceeding half a million dollars.
The extraction of oil can render transformers inoperative, as the liquid serves functions of insulation and cooling.
The damages are not limited to the electrical grid. The downtime of this equipment can disrupt the supply to homes, water pumping systems, and agricultural activities, as is the case here with a facility intended for irrigation.
The authorities in Matanzas have also started to conduct checks on highways to detect vehicles using stolen dielectric oil as fuel.
At the inspection points, specialists are involved in analyzing diesel samples to determine any possible mixtures with that product.
The measure was adopted after two people were recently detained in Los Arabos with a tank of dielectric oil, a hose, gloves, and a rope, in one of the many incidents related to this crime.
According to the authorities, the product had been extracted from a transformer in the Guachinango area.
The problem had been growing for months. In May, authorities in Matanzas acknowledged that around 40 people were being prosecuted for offenses related to the theft of dielectric oil, involving more than ten alleged criminal networks and about 33 reports under investigation.
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