In a swift police response, a thief who brandished a knife and robbed a young woman of her cellphone in Old Havana was captured after attempting to escape on Thursday. The arrest occurred around 11 a.m. at the intersection of Obrapía and Mercaderes in the historic heart of the Cuban capital, as reported by the Facebook page "El Cubano Fiel," which is affiliated with the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), complete with photos of the arrest.
The report detailed how the assailant used the knife seen in the images to threaten the young woman, seize her iPhone, and then flee the scene. A group of plainclothes officers pursued the thief for at least four blocks before successfully apprehending him. The identity of the suspect was not disclosed in the account provided by the page.
In a characteristically boastful tone common to social media profiles linked to the Cuban regime, the post heralded the "quick" action of the officers, who managed to return the stolen phone to its owner, thus removing "one criminal from the streets." Meanwhile, the regime's official narrative downplays the rising tide of crime and social violence in Cuba, attempting to rehabilitate the image of the police force. However, the public remains critical of the police's inefficiency and lives in fear due to the growing insecurity across the nation.
Authorities continue to claim a decline in crime rates, yet this assertion is met with skepticism by citizens. In comments to the BBC, Maricela Sosa Ravelo, Vice President of Cuba's Supreme Court, dismissed concerns about national security as a narrative exaggerated by social media and accused the United States of orchestrating defamatory campaigns.
Incidents such as street muggings, home invasions, and robberies of commercial establishments, many resulting in the murder of victims, have become increasingly common as the economic crisis deepens in Cuba. This month alone, criminals murdered two security guards in Santiago de Cuba at their respective workplaces—a farmers' market and a private restaurant—to facilitate their robberies.
In another shocking crime that rattled the community of Jovellanos in Matanzas, thieves killed 22-year-old Jesús David Corcho Pérez to steal his motorbike, highlighting the growing peril faced by ordinary Cubans in their daily lives.