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January 31, 2026— The latest report from the Cuban Observatory for Citizen Auditing (OCAC) confirms a sustained and alarming rise in crime in Cuba during 2025, with very significant increases compared to 2024 and 2023, and a particularly worrying expansion of crimes related to the production, sale, and consumption of drugs.
According to the monitoring carried out by the OCAC, in 2025, 2,833 crime reports were identified and verified, representing an increase of 115.11% compared to 2024 (1,317 reports) and an increase of 336.58% compared to 2023 (649 reports). These figures, obtained through a systematic process of verification and triangulation of public sources, directly contradict the official narrative of an alleged decline in crime in the country.
The growth is not limited to the total volume of criminal acts but is also reflected in the diversification of the criminal ecosystem and its greater social impact. Robbery continues to be the most prevalent type of crime, with 1,536 reports in 2025, 74.55% more than in 2024 and almost five times more than in 2023, reflecting the degree of material precariousness and deterioration of non-political social control.
However, one of the most relevant findings of the report is the accelerated expansion of drug-related crimes. During 2025, 437 incidents related to the production, sale, and consumption of narcotics were reported, consolidating this type of crime as one of the most worrisome trends of the year. The growing presence of substances such as the so-called “chemical,” along with marijuana, cocaine, and other synthetic drugs, shows a qualitative change in crime, with greater territorial penetration, community impact, and direct effects on young people and vulnerable sectors.
Although reported homicides show a slight decrease compared to previous years, the report emphasizes that crime in Cuba is growing in frequency, it is diversifying and becoming more socially harmful, with a sustained increase in the number of victims and people involved in criminal acts.
The OCAC warns that this expansion of crime cannot be interpreted as a series of isolated incidents, but rather as the result of a web of structural causes—economic, institutional, social, political, and cultural—that the Cuban state does not publicly acknowledge and for which it has no effective solutions. The combination of economic collapse, widespread impoverishment, institutional weakening, lack of transparency in information, and absence of comprehensive public policies has created an environment conducive to the normalization of illegality.
The lack of transparent official statistics and the selective reporting of cases by the government make it impossible to accurately gauge the true magnitude of the phenomenon. In this regard, the report itself emphasizes that the figures presented here are inevitably an underestimation, reflecting only the visible part of a much deeper citizen’s security crisis.
