Gang Involved in Stealing and Selling 133 Tons of Distributed Chicken Used Money to Buy Laptops and TVs

Frozen Chicken Embezzlement Used to Purchase Home Appliances
Among 30 Arrested, Food Warehouse Employees Also Included

In the Caribbean island nation of Cuba, which is struggling with chronic food shortages, a large number of people who recently stole chicken meant for resident rations were caught by authorities.

On the 13th (local time), local media such as Granma and Canal Caribe reported that the Cuban government arrested about 30 people who stole 133 tons of frozen chicken from the public food warehouse 'Copmar' in the capital Havana and secretly sold it on the market. It is reported that the arrested individuals mainly used the proceeds from selling the frozen chicken to purchase home appliances such as refrigerators, laptops, and televisions.

Rigoberto Mustelier Sandoval, the manager of Copmar, estimated in an interview with Canal Caribe that "the amount of stolen chicken is enough to supply residents of a medium-sized provincial city for a month." Among the 30 arrested were Copmar employees and security personnel.

[Image source=Pixabay]

Chicken is a major source of protein for Cuban residents and is one of the food items rationed to residents at low prices under government control. This incident appears to be one of the cases that indirectly reveals Cuba's food shortage situation.

Cuba's economic difficulties are severe. Especially in Cuba, which maintains a strong socialist system, anti-government protests broke out simultaneously nationwide in 2021, and economic hardship is analyzed as one of the underlying causes. In June of last year, six people were caught by authorities for stealing 300 boxes of chicken from a port using fake invoices. However, it is believed that there are more related thefts that have not been detected by authorities.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.