Bici-taxis Station, Güines Park, August 2002. Photo by Rafael Alfonso, Hialeah Gardens, Florida

La Unión (The Union) Grocery Store of Pedro Alvarez, Maximo Gomez Street and La Quinta's Highway, August 2002. Photo by Rafael Alfonso, Hialeah Gardens, Florida

Chase of Illegal Cattle Butchers
Ends in a Shootout

By José Izquierdo, Grupo Decoro (Decorum Group)

Güines, December 4, 2002 (www.cubanet.org) - A police operative to apprehend three illegal butchers of cattle that escaped during the morning of November 29, ended with an intense shooting in the downtown area of Güines, capital of the Municipality with the same name, located in Havana Province.

The shooting took place in the central Clemente Fernández Street. The illegal butchers were traveling in a Chevrolet automobile, license BDE-158, that escaped from the place, despite the shots and then evaded a patrol car in the area near the cold room storage in Bizarrón located about three kilometers from Güines.

Neighbors of that area confirmed that around six thirty in he morning shots started and people got scared. Three bags of meat were abandoned by the butchers when they went through the above mentioned street.

The operation ended when one of the butchers was wounded, according to a source of the local police which did not offer any more information. The identity of those arrested is unknown.

According to the Penal Code in force, the illegal butchering of cattle is punished with jail terms of between five and twenty years.