Cuba has convicted 30 people of stealing 133 tonnes of chicken and selling it on the streets amid food shortages in the country, Reuters reported on February 10.
According to a report broadcast on Cuban state television late on February 9, thieves took meat in 1,660 boxes from the state-run COPMAR food facility in the capital Havana.
The subjects then used the proceeds from the sales to buy refrigerators, laptops, televisions and air conditioners.
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The amount stolen is equivalent to a month's worth of chicken rations for a medium-sized province in the country, said Rigoberto Mustelier, director of food distributor COPMAR.
Economic crises in recent years have caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine, leading to a sharp decline in domestic chicken supplies. Meanwhile, many subsidized products have been arriving days, weeks or even months later than expected, leaving low-income earners struggling to make ends meet.
Authorities did not say when the chicken theft occurred but noted that it likely happened between midnight and 2 a.m., when they noticed fluctuations in the cold storage’s temperature. Surveillance video captured the truck transporting the chickens out of the location.
The 30 people charged include shift bosses and IT staff at the plant, as well as security guards and outsiders not directly affiliated with the company.
The suspects could face up to 20 years in prison.
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