two sellers of Dollars in the informal market they were arrested this Saturday after executing a robbery with violence in which they used Firearms during an illegal currency sale operation in Havana.
The event occurred in the afternoon in the Eduardo Chibás neighborhood, in the municipality of Guanabacoa. The two individuals intimidated with firearms a couple whom they had summoned to meet at the place where the informal exchange would take place, according to reports the official website www.minint.cubava.cu, which regularly addresses issues related to the Ministry of the Interior (Minint).
The information indicates that, according to witness statements, the hooded men fired shots into the air and robbed their victims of the sum of 880,000 Cuban pesos (Cup), clothing and a bag.
The note adds that two patrol cars and officials from the municipality’s National Revolutionary Police (PNR) station came to the place, alerted to the fact by the citizens.
The information disclosed indicates that the thieves were arrested and that the weapons used in the assault were recovered. The victims’ money was also seized. According to the report, “they are in good health.”
The publication also reflects the comment of a user who on Facebook commented that what happened: “it seemed like a movie, but the officers did not spare and caught them. They didn’t hesitate for a minute.”
At the time of writing this information, no official media had reflected what happened in the capital, and there was no report of the event on the Minint website.
Currency purchase and sale operations in the informal market are common and have exploded due to the fact that the transactions are carried out at a price higher than the exchange rate established by the Cuban government and the limited availability of sales in the network of authorized offices to perform them.
Currently the current exchange rate in the Exchange Houses (Cadeca) it is around 109.20 CUP per dollar for purchases and 124.80 in sales operations. However, in the informal market the dollar fluctuates between 160 and 165 CUP per unit.
Due to the boom in the purchase and sale of foreign currency through informal channels, the Cuban authorities have alerted the population about the possibility of being involved in acts of fraud or theft in this type of operation.
