At least 30 people were arrested by the Cuban Police for reselling essential products in the area known as Feria de 100 y Boyeros, in Havana. In the police procedure, carried out this Thursday, hundreds of egg cartons, packages of chicken and hash were seized, official media confirmed.
Elements of the Police and the Technical Department of Investigations (DTI), a dependency of the Ministry of the Interior, participated in the search. The uniformed men arrived at the popular fair in the morning, when “from one moment to another, they began to take away all the resellers who are always in the area,” he said. The Page of Mauro Torresrelated to the regime.
A witness to the operation assured that the merchants sold the products at exorbitant prices, according to the official press, which renders the user’s text on Facebook. Among these, the carton of eggs at 2,000 pesos and the package of chicken -which in stores costs 90 pesos- at 1,500. “The thing about those people was an abuse, so very good for the police and the DTI,” the neighbor allegedly added.
Another witness pointed out that the operation reached a house near the fair, where they took out a truck loaded with packages of chicken and ground beef. This person assured that he “counted more than four hundred egg cartons”, which were seized by the uniformed men.
The publication indicates that these types of operations enjoy “popular support” because they arrest people who “profit from the needs of others” by selling basic products from the Cuban food basket at prices ten times higher than the market value. .
The shortage of food and basic products on the Island causes distortions that contribute to feeding the black market, where you can find everything from technology items to women’s sanitary pads at high prices.
The popular Fair specializes in the sale of hardware, plumbing, household items and other highly demanded supplies that are scarce in stores.
The news of the operation has been applauded by many readers of the official newspaper, but there have been many who have complained to the authorities about the inefficiency in controlling “hoarding” and in guaranteeing the supply of basic products. “At last we see something that helps to cut the criminal chain, although they must get to the bottom because 400 egg cartons do not come out of nowhere, and even less now, that there is nowhere,” questioned a user.
“The resellers are abusers, but who is to blame for this happening? Where do the products come from in that magnitude? Are they really the resellers?” questions Elina Mendoza. Another user, identified as Freddy, asked that those who buy dollars in exchange houses (Cadeca) and then resell them on the street be investigated.
The ruling party, for its part, announced that it is one of the investigations that they will carry out in Havana against “resellers who do so much damage to the population.”
The popular Fair, also known as “la candonga de 100 y Boyeros” specializes in the sale of hardware, plumbing, household items and other highly demanded supplies that are scarce in state stores. Although, according to the law, the merchants or merolicos that offer their merchandise in the place could only sell nationally manufactured products or handicrafts, the truth is that the most common thing is to come across accessories and pieces imported or taken from state warehouses.
Between the tables of those offering instant glue, children’s toys and pipe joints, other vendors often lurk, quietly hawking packages of frozen chicken, eggs, powdered milk and other foods. The practice is so widespread that the Fair has a reputation as a place where “you can get anything or almost anything.”
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