An alleged solar panel thief in Matanzas ended up in an unusual situation: after stealing one of these devices from a home and hiding it in a dumpster, he returned three days later to retrieve it, only to find that it had vanished.
The case was reported by the state-run newspaper Girón, which provided information about two burglaries that took place in homes in the town of Cidra, Unión de Reyes municipality, in the province of Matanzas.
Investigations link both incidents to the same man, identified only by the initial W.
According to police information, one of the thefts occurred at a residence on C Street, where the suspect allegedly stole a 400-watt solar panel.
Instead of taking the equipment home immediately, he decided to hide it in a nearby dumpster.
But his plans did not go as he expected: according to the version provided by the person involved to the investigators, three days later he returned to the location to retrieve the panel and discovered that someone had removed it.
So far, the authorities do not know who took the device or where it is located. It has not been established whether it was stolen by someone else or removed for some other reason.
Investigations are ongoing, especially to determine what happened to the missing 400-watt panel from the landfill.
The other robbery under investigation occurred after midnight on October 28, while a family was asleep in their home on the Guayabal farm, near the town of Cidra.
According to the report, the suspect climbed over the perimeter fence of the property, reached the roof of the house, and took a 500-watt solar panel.
On this occasion, the Police managed to recover the equipment shortly after the theft and return it to its owners.
During the investigation, the authorities seized several articles of clothing from the residence of the alleged suspect that, according to the inquiry, were worn during the events.
They also found a knife that he supposedly used to cut the cables of the solar panels.
Colonel Yasiel Prado Valdés, representative of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) in Unión de Reyes, explained to the radio that thefts with force are among the most prevalent crimes in the municipality.
The official assured that the authorities prioritize this type of case in order to resolve them as quickly as possible.
The theft of solar equipment has become common in various Cuban provinces, precisely when many families and organizations are turning to these technologies to alleviate the effects of prolonged blackouts.
In September, three individuals were detained for the theft of 28 solar panels intended for water pumping in Los Arabos, also in Matanzas.
The equipment had been stolen from a warehouse of the General Gusev livestock unit in San Pedro de Mayabón. Authorities recovered 21 panels, while the other seven remained missing.
In October, the police discovered around 50 stolen solar panels from a photovoltaic park in Guantánamo, during a search conducted in a residence. Among those involved were workers from the facility itself, according to authorities.
The thefts have also impacted private initiatives aimed at combating darkness.
In Santa Clara, a family reported in October that their solar lamp installed to illuminate their block during power outages had been stolen.
The device benefited both the owners and their neighbors, who were once again left without that source of illumination.
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