Cuban Customs Seizes Over 7,000 Cigars at Havana Airport

[El Presidente]

 

Monday, September 29, 2025 by Isabella Rojas

In a significant bust, Cuban Customs officials have seized more than 7,300 loose cigars along with 64 boxes at Havana's airport. This haul was discovered during an attempt to smuggle them out without any invoices or documents verifying their legal origin. The announcement was made on Sunday by Wiliam Pérez González, the First Deputy Chief of the General Customs of the Republic, through a post on X. He explained that this operation is part of the ongoing institutional campaign known as Secure Border.

Pérez González confirmed that the case has been reported to the police for further investigation. According to the details shared, these cigars were meant to be exported without adhering to Cuba's stringent export and control regulations. Interestingly, Pérez did not clarify whether the seizure occurred over a specific time frame, nor did he disclose the number of individuals involved in this illegal activity.

[madandana]

Wow- cracking down lately. 

[Habanoschris]

Interesting originating from Cuba but not official origin.  

[ElLoboLoco]

If they sneak through, do these end up-being gray market cigars? I am curious where these end up.

[smashed]

Wow even Cuba cracking down. I wonder if cigars like this which get through the cracks, still register with Habanos verification? Or if the numbers get 'blacklisted' and don't show up. It always made me wonder on scratched barcode boxes from some vendors, if they were possibly obtained like this.

[SCgarman]

Send ' em all to the blast furnace! Remember the big Cuban cigar grab at Chicago customs? They were all incinerated. One at a time😁

[habanohal]

The Chicago massacre. 

[ATGroom]

I'm sure for the person who was carrying them out, whoever they bought them from told them the cigars were stolen from the factories. Who knows, maybe that's actually true.

They also could be factory seconds that have failed QC and been given stolen bands and put in stolen or reused boxes.

Or they could be total fakes produced in Cuba with a mix of stolen bands, boxes etc and imported ones. Some stuff is easier to steal than others, ie, an RyJ dress box is easy enough to get. Limited Edition flyers are harder as they are tracked more closely and there will be issues if too many are stolen for the factory to complete their quota.

7 hours ago, smashed said:

Wow even Cuba cracking down. I wonder if cigars like this which get through the cracks, still register with Habanos verification? or if the numbers get 'blacklisted' and don't show up. It always made me wonder on scratched barcode boxes from some vendors, if they were possibly obtained like this.

The seals are coded to the boxes in the export warehouse.

If the boxes are diverted from the warehouse (or from retail in Cuba) then they already have the full seal.

If someone steals a roll of blank seals then they won't be coded and won't show up in the verification checker.

If someone steals a box from the factory (which is easier to do than the export warehouse), then it will only have the small transport seal. In that case, they can purchase fake seals from China and put them on the box. The seal producers seem to be able to make seals that match the verification checker without issue.

7 hours ago, ElLoboLoco said:

If they sneak thru, do these end up-being gray market cigars? I am curious where these end up.

I would hope that most 'legitimate' grey market sellers (ie, brick and mortar stores, large online retailers etc) have been around the block enough times to not buy from these kind of sellers. These probably mostly end up in the "guy who sells in a group on Facebook / WeChat" kind of operation.

[Reuben]

6 hours ago, smashed said:

Wow even Cuba cracking down. I wonder if cigars like this which get through the cracks, still register with Habanos verification? or if the numbers get 'blacklisted' and don't show up. It always made me wonder on scratched barcode boxes from some vendors, if they were possibly obtained like this.

I've wondered the same thing. I see boxes with scratched out numbers on the seal.

[smashed]

8 hours ago, Reuben said:

I've wondered the same thing. I see boxes with scratched out numbers on the seal.

The sellers say ‘it’s to protect their vendors identity’ but I always thought it could perhaps be because of a wonky situation/stolen as well. It always irks me if serials are scratched. I take them out of box and put in plain cedar boxes in humidor if scratched. 🤣