Cuban man immobilises pickpocket and hands him over to police in viral video
A young man identified as Junior subdued a pickpocket in the middle of the street amid police inaction. The video circulates on social media as crime in Cuba increased by 115% in 2025.
Cuban citizen neutralises thief amid absence of police
A young Cuban identified as Junior immobilised a pickpocket in public to hand him over to police, according to cibercuba.com. The scene, captured on video, circulates on Facebook after being published by user Ezequiel Puldon with the title "Juventud divino tesoro... Estamos perdidos", an ironic reference to Rubén Darío's poem in light of the young age of the detained offender.
In the one-minute-five-second clip, a woman recounts how three individuals ran past her and snatched the young man's phone. "Compay, asere, don't resort to that", another witness present reproached the immobilised thief. "It makes me sad to see these things. It makes me sad, honestly. So young, damn it", the woman concludes.
Neighbourhood justice amid police inaction
Junior's case is not an isolated incident. In September 2025, residents in Santiago de Cuba pursued and detained a suspected chain snatcher. In August of that same year, residents of the Santa Bárbara neighbourhood subdued and tied up a suspected armed criminal carrying knives. The pattern repeats amid widespread perception that the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) does not respond effectively to common crime.
On 4 April, a family in Santiago de Cuba waited over ten hours without police response after suffering a robbery. The excuse offered was a "shift change". In contrast, the PNR deploys patrols regularly to suppress political dissidence. "To crack down, there is fuel", citizens consulted by the media point out.
It is estimated moreover that 20% of PNR officers abandoned the force during the last year, leaving entire areas of the country without security coverage.
Crime surged 115% compared to 2024
Data from the Cuban Observatory of Civic Audit (OCAC) supports public perception. In 2025, 2,833 verified crimes were recorded on the island, an increase of 115% compared to 2024 and 337% compared to 2023, with an average of seven to eight crimes daily. Robberies led the statistics with 1,536 cases in 2025, an increase of 479% since 2023.
These figures directly contradict the statements of Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, who in July 2025 stated that there was a "downward trend" in crime.
Economic crisis as structural backdrop
The Cuban economy contracted 5% in 2025 and has accumulated a decline of 15% since 2020. This deterioration has deepened poverty and fuelled the growth of crime. The most frequent modus operandi, observable in the video of Junior's case, consists of groups moving on motorcycles to snatch valuable items from passers-by, a pattern also linked to the collapse of public transport.
The Cuban government has published images of resolved police cases on social media as evidence of efficiency, but those actions do not reflect the daily experience of insecurity described by citizens. Meanwhile, it is citizens themselves who assume the risk of confronting criminals in the street, without institutional support.
Source: Google News CU — La Habana