The National Revolutionary Police (PNR) and the Technical Investigations Department (DTI) arrested a man in the town of El Socorro, municipality of Songo-La Maya, Santiago de Cuba province, connected to several thefts of dielectric oil from transformers in various neighborhoods of the area.
The information was first disseminated by the Facebook account "Heroes of Moncada", a profile publicly associated with MININT that regularly publishes police operations in Santiago de Cuba, and later shared by the Municipal Administration Council of Songo-La Maya.
Upon searching the detainee's residence, authorities discovered stolen transformers in several neighborhoods of the municipality, indicating a sustained activity rather than an isolated incident.
The official statement warned that "removing the dielectric oil from transformers not only damages the equipment but also affects the electrical service for the community," and urged residents to report such incidents as a way to prevent further damage.
Songo-La Maya has a serious history regarding this type of crime. In April of this year, two men died or were injured while attempting to extract oil from a transformer bank in Altos de Esperanza: the maneuver caused an explosion that triggered the 33 kV line supplying the municipality and Segundo Frente, leaving one dead and the other with severe burns.
The authorities recovered 70 liters of oil about 100 meters from the location. Weeks later, residents of Baltony, in the same municipality, reported more than two weeks without electricity due to similar thefts.
According to data from the Cuban authorities on criminal investigations for crimes against the electrical system, more than 460 criminal investigations were opened between 2025 and the first half of 2026, with over 300 of them related to the theft of dielectric oil, and the crime being present in all 15 provinces and 97 municipalities across the country.
The driving force behind the theft is the scarcity of fuel: the stolen oil is mixed with diesel and resold in the informal market for use in vehicles and agricultural machinery.
The legal framework governing these cases is the Ruling 475/2025 from the People's Supreme Court, issued in May 2025, which mandates classifying any act that affects the functioning of the National Electric Power System as sabotage, including the removal of dielectric oil.
Sentences range from seven to 30 years of imprisonment, with the possibility of life imprisonment or the death penalty in aggravated cases.
Recent convictions illustrate the severity of this policy. In Havana, four men received prison sentences ranging from 15 to 20 years for stealing oil from a transformer at the Cotorro Dairy Complex, an act that halted the packaging of five tons of powdered milk intended for children aged zero to two years.
A judge in the Havana case summarized the judicial reasoning: "Anything related to damage that disrupts the normal operation of a plant regarding electrical issues is of utmost necessity for the country, and therefore falls under the category of sabotage crimes."
In Matanzas, three men were sentenced to 15, 14, and eight years for thefts in Jagüey Grande, which were also classified as sabotage; one of them was 18 years old at the time of the incidents.
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