They organize in a “network,” know when the police are coming and watch for whistleblowers, says the station boss
14ymedio, Havana, August 24, 2024 — The director of the Villanueva bus terminal in Havana keeps his eye on the buquenques* — the scammers — the “ferocious wolves,” whose intervention makes it possible to have a privileged place on the waiting list. Agile and shady traders, they know the schedules and lack mercy when it comes to defrauding the desperate traveler. Yanniel Pantoja says he is hunting them down and warns that he has the police within reach by telephone.
However, he admits that the situation is beyond his control and cannot be resolved with a simple call. Not even with a fine. His interview given this Friday to Bohemia is a request for help to the authorities from “above” to intervene.
Faced with the helplessness of the travelers, Pantoja provides at least some clues to recognizing the scammers, who prefer to call themselves – not without a certain elegance – “travel managers,” although they aren’t licensed. The official talks about people who “have dedicated their lives” to earning their bread this way. He himself, since he took this job, has witnessed those “careers.”
Even if they have almost absolute power over the resale of tickets, they enjoy scamming people to get money for alcohol and drugs
In Pantoja’s experience, the scammers tend toward alcoholism, and although they have almost absolute power over the resale of tickets, they enjoy scamming people to get money for alcohol and drugs. The manager says that the “effects” of their actions – the scamming and the consequences of their addiction – damage the ambience of Villanueva, which remains tense “24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”
It is supposed to be forbidden for a scammer and a driver – state or private – to negotiate, but that law only works “inside the terminal area.” If the scammer is informed of the itineraries or receives privileged information from the drivers outside Villanueva, Pantoja can do nothing.
The scammers never set a rate; they work on an already established price, which they raise as much as they want depending on demand. “The amount exceeds 1,000, 1,500 or more pesos,” reports the official. “And if the passenger is careless, it is possible that they will take all his money.” They charge in cash and never accept transfers. “They don’t want to leave traces,” he concludes.
Pantoja points out some picturesque details of his antagonists, such as their quality of being “psychologists” – just seeing a passenger they know how much money they can get from him – or their clothing, “somewhat bizarre,” because they are often marginal people or alcoholics. Others, he describes, “wear better clothes and are the most deceptive. They try to be sociable, helpful, they adapt to circumstances; they are very understanding and considerate in order to attract the person interested in traveling: they are excessively friendly,” he says.
The scammers of Villanueva no longer act in isolation. As good “wolves,” they have organized a pack and “created a network.” The objective is not only economic but also a matter of survival: “They are informed about all operations, when there are buses in the terminal and our daily routine, because they study it and know it well. In addition, they compare notes when someone seems suspicious.”
Sometimes, however, they are clueless. When the journalist from Bohemia who interviewed Pantoja arrived at the terminal, he was perceived as a businessman. “The competition [to get to him] was so strong that they didn’t even notice the sign that identified the vehicle,” he says sarcastically.
Pantoja doesn’t know exactly how many there are, but he says that “they are a large group” with whom he has a little war. The situation with transport is already “tense,” he regrets, and the scammers know that people will blame the Government in the first place. That’s why they often use the names of the terminal officials – “they know us,” he says – or they refer clients to Pantoja himself if they have complaints.
The scammers aren’t even afraid of the police now, the official exclaims. “Operations have been carried out, but they always return. I think it’s time for something to happen, because I’ve dealt with the repeat offenders, with the new ones, and I’ve practically had to get down to their level and ask: how long will this continue?”
There are “ferocious wolves” in all the terminals of Cuba, and often their relationship with the managers is much less harsh than the one described by Pantoja
There are “ferocious wolves” in all the terminals of Cuba, and often their relationship with managers is much less harsh than the one described by Pantoja. Their business – without which travelers would not be able to move from one province to another – passes through the director’s office and is ignored by the police. In Villanueva, where the situation cannot be hidden, the real enemy of the scammers are their colleagues, who dispute the client with “strong competition.”
One of Pantoja’s interviewers says that they tried to charge him 4,500 pesos for a fake ticket to Sancti Spíritus, even when the terminal was buzzing with overwhelmed travelers. The speed of the process surprised him. “I had just thrown myself into the terrain of the criminal underworld,” was his conclusion when he saw the scammer moving through Villanueva at full speed. “I asked him where my bus would be; and he only answered: ’Look for your friends, I’ll take care of the rest.’”
When the reporter began to pretend that he could not find his supposed colleagues, the scammer – about 30 years old – got angry. There were 20 minutes of tension in which the false traveler thought that there would be more serious consequences, since his journalistic team did not even know his intentions.
At the end of its report, Bohemia reserves the worst insults for the scammers: “leeches,” “renowned parasites of society,” “people who shout and try to convince” – according to the dictionary – or “a plague.” However, the magazine does not wonder why these characters emerged and under what conditions they operate. The hustlers are the children of their circumstances in a country where the transport system is in perpetual crisis and travelers enter a jungle, not a terminal.
*Editor’s Note: ENJOY! (It’s got English subtitles)
Translated by Regina Anavy
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