By: Cubadebate Staff
He had no visible business, nor a job; but he handled amounts that did not correspond to any legitimate income. For some time, he had been operating as a silent cog in a circuit that moved millions within and outside the country, part of a phenomenon that, according to authorities, continues to occur, despite ongoing criminal proceedings and public warnings.
The preliminary investigation file 862/2025, from the Criminal Investigation Unit of Villa Clara, is prosecuting a currency trafficking crime that spans three provinces: Villa Clara, Sancti Spíritus, and Las Tunas.
The scheme worked as follows: two financiers in the United States and Spain collected remittances from Cubans in those countries and used this money to finance imports by non-state actors. These actors paid an organizer and their couriers in Cuba, both in Cuban pesos and US dollars; this money was then used to transport the remittances to the recipient families in the three provinces mentioned earlier.
The methods of operation included financial compensation transactions abroad, withholding the foreign currency on behalf of third parties—non-state management entities—to cover purchases and pay suppliers. This element complicates and aggravates the criminal activity, given its ongoing nature, the existence of an organized structure and distinct roles within the criminal network, and the double retention of cash (both Cuban pesos and foreign currency) outside the control of the National Banking System.
The economic logic of the system primarily favored those operating from abroad, who not only earned a profit margin from remittances but also between six and eight percent commission on imports by non-state actors, explained Lieutenant Colonel Yisnel Rivero Crespo, head of the Economic Crimes Department of the Ministry of the Interior’s Investigation Unit.
According to the investigation, the organizer in Villa Clara had been carrying out these activities since 2023, managing a flow of between 20 and 30 million pesos weekly, through an operation with two fixed distribution days: Friday and Monday; and two wholesale receivers in Sancti Spíritus and Las Tunas.
Rivero Crespo specified that five people directly linked to these operations were arrested about a week ago, and so far at least four non-state management entities involved in the imports with financiers have been identified.
Another Criminal Model
In Pinar del Río and Havana, authorities from the Ministry of the Interior are investigating preliminary investigations 1021/2025 and 1344/2025, respectively.
This criminal model is based on the purchase and sale of large quantities of foreign currency circulating within the country. An internal circuit was used to inflate prices and obtain quick returns.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Rivero Crespo, four people were arrested in Pinar del Río. The main suspect had two messengers who bought foreign currency on the black market with funds he provided. Additionally, a young woman was in charge of managing social media and administering a closed group to coordinate operations.
In Havana, meanwhile, the suspect was an unemployed resident of the Diez de Octubre municipality who managed a high volume of transactions.
According to authorities, his house had become a point of reference for those seeking large sums of money in a short period.
Economic Consequences
These three cases add to nearly one hundred ongoing investigations related to flows of hundreds of millions of pesos moved each week outside the Cuban financial system.
These practices generate additional pressure on inflation, reduce the State’s revenue-generating capacity, and ultimately affect the very economic actors who try to operate legally. While some demand foreign currency for their import processes, the benefits are concentrated among those who control the flows, especially external financiers or internal traffickers with the capacity to handle large volumes of cash.
The combination of remittances, demand for foreign currency, and illicit intermediation mechanisms—whether from abroad or within the country—creates a scenario that, according to the Ministry of the Interior, demands a sustained response, in a context marked by the economic war against Cuba.
IMAGE CREDIT: Cash seized during the investigation in Villa Clara. Photo: Minint.
[ SOURCE: CUBA DEBATE ]
