Onion supply in Cuba will be reduced by millionaire’s theft from state company

Many onion farmers in Cuba were left without essential seeds For sowing during the current cool season Due to the theft of some quintals of that product In the Sancti Spiritus refrigerator, the official press reported.

According to a local newspaper Escambre, Six individuals are charged with the crime of robbery with force at a state facilitywho allegedly stole 5.75 quintals of Carib 71 variety onion seeds and 18 kg cabbage seeds on August 28.

According to the report, two former employees of the business unit of Sancti Spiritus’ refrigeration base 800 offered the thieves the information they needed to gain access to the facility and evade the site’s custodian.

Thanks to this, the criminals crossed the perimeter fence and entered cold room number nine, where onion seeds and other quality vegetables were stored, which will be used in the 2023-2024 sowing.

The Ministry of the Interior of Sancti Spiritus (MININT) arrested and charged the alleged perpetrators, who are detained at the province’s Criminal Investigation Unit.

In the process, The police also held two guards on duty at the refrigerator on the night of the incident responsible. In his case, he was charged with the crime of “failure to comply with the duty to protect state property”.

According to Escambre, the six direct respondents admitted their participation in the theft and also facilitated the recovery of 5.34 quintals of onion seeds and 26 packets of cabbage seeds. But, because these products were hidden in the field’s undergrowth and without refrigeration, The state company estimated its losses at 1,508,204 Cuban pesos.

Orestes Ramirez Salas, provincial director of the Sancti Spiritus Semillas Base Business Unit, said for the report Onion cultivation was negatively affected by this theft during the current cold season, as the stolen seed was destined for growers. From Banao, in the province of Sancti Spiritus, as well as for farmers in Pinar del Rio, Mayabeque, Granma, Camagüey and Ciego de Ávila.

“This effect halts cultivation in large number of hectares in the country. “Seeds for onion planting cannot be imported this year, given the limitations we all know, and national production Carib 71 will be used,” the official explained.

“We really feel very affected, and I’m not just talking about the monetary value, but about the fact that growers were left without seeds and in the end the population pays the consequences,” added Ramírez Salas.

There are no total public statistics on losses due to theft in Cuban agriculture. However, authorities believe the illegal slaughter of livestock is the worst, while producers decry the wave of crimes threatening their crops.