Cuban Ministry Probes Alleged Currency Trafficking Networks in Key Provinces

The Cuban Ministry of the Interior (MININT) has launched investigations into suspected illicit currency trafficking networks in Villa Clara, Sancti Spíritus, and Las Tunas. This action is portrayed by the regime as part of its ongoing "crusade" against financial activities outside the state-controlled system.

A report by Cubadebate highlights that case number 862/2025 from Villa Clara’s Criminal Investigation Unit involves multiple individuals accused of moving millions in pesos and dollars beyond the national banking system’s oversight, which ultimately deprives the regime’s coffers.

The state-run outlet reports that this case links remittances sent from the United States and Spain with imports managed by non-state economic actors in Cuba.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Yisnel Rivero Crespo, head of the MININT’s Economic Crimes Department, the scheme involved two financiers overseas who gathered remittances from Cubans and used them to fund private purchases on the island.

In Cuba, an organizer along with couriers distributed the money to family members and local businesses, earning commissions between 6% and 8% per transaction.

Authorities claim the main suspect, a resident of Villa Clara, has been operating since 2023, moving between 20 and 30 million pesos weekly, with set distribution days on Fridays and Mondays.

Five individuals have been arrested, and the MININT claims to have identified at least four types of non-state management entities allegedly linked to these operations.

The official narrative maintains that such practices "inflate prices and undermine the State's financial control," although many economists argue that the rise of these networks is more a response to the Cuban banking system's structural crisis, the scarcity of official currency, and growing public distrust of state mechanisms.

Concurrently, the MININT has reported two similar cases in Pinar del Río (1021/2025) and Havana (1344/2025), focusing on domestic currency trading networks.

In Pinar del Río, four individuals were apprehended, including a young woman who managed a closed social media group to coordinate transactions.

In Havana, the primary suspect, residing in Diez de Octubre, allegedly turned his home into a hub for large-scale currency transactions.

Lieutenant Colonel Rivero Crespo noted that some detainees handled such large cash volumes that they required machines to count money, illustrating the scale of a phenomenon that continues to spread across the island despite repeated official campaigns.

The state media itself acknowledged that nearly a hundred investigations are ongoing into informal money flows moving hundreds of millions of pesos weekly.

Nonetheless, the underlying issues remain unaddressed: the regime’s financial monopoly persists, monetary duality remains a practical reality, and most Cubans continue to rely on the informal currency market for survival or trade.

While the government touts these operations as law enforcement successes, this so-called "crusade against currency trafficking" is, in reality, an attempt to tighten control over independent economic flows and bolster its narrative of battling an "economic war" frequently cited in official statements.

Recently, the MININT announced the partial dismantling of an alleged illegal currency trafficking network between the United States and Cuba, reportedly led by Cuban exile Humberto Julio Mora Caballero from Miami.

The operation, labeled by the regime as a "new criminal modality," unfolds amid a backdrop of structural crisis, liquidity shortages, and the state’s waning control over financial flows outside the official banking system.