# Mafia Money Buried In Cuba? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 14, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877 "2015-08-14T22:38:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/1 "2015-08-14T22:38:01Z")
I once read that Santos Trafficante (or some other Mob boss) buried about $1.5 million in cash, near his casino in Havana. now that relations have been re=established, are there any chances his heirs will go back and recover it? Will the Cuban government eventually reimburse the owners of the old casinos? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/2 "2015-08-14T23:01:28Z")
Calling Geraldo Rivera. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/3 "2015-08-14T23:07:24Z")
No and no. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/4 "2015-08-15T03:43:20Z")
You might find a few bodies but you won’t find any money. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/5 "2015-08-15T03:46:34Z")
Why would someone bury $1.5 million in cash? ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/6 "2015-08-15T04:09:59Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Why would someone bury $1.5 million in cash? Cuz they want to hide it and not have it found by the government? There was a local drug lord whose estate was dug up by the government once taken down, they found many barrels filled with nothing but cash, millions. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/7 "2015-08-15T10:34:28Z")
Would American notes from the 50s still be usable? ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/8 "2015-08-15T10:47:15Z")
Lots and lots of small purchases. Still, assuming this was in notes, I’d guess people would look twice at proffered bunches of 60-year-old dollars even if one was buying a car. Also, bad luck: when buried $1.5 million would have bought a small New England township; by now it would just buy a small mansion in Florida \*. Wait a 100 years and it will buy you a sandwich. - Lest this be taken for exaggeration, here’s [\*\*a mansion in Florida \*\*](http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/935-Hillsboro-Mile-Hillsboro-Beach-FL-33062/42937368_zpid/)for $139 million for people who worked very hard and never missed a day’s work. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/9 "2015-08-15T12:21:07Z")
I don’t buy the idea that money was buried in the first place let alone left there all this time. Is the spot under 24 hour guard for over 50 years? There are always ways to get to it and to move it out of the country. Bribery is always effective, even more so in Communist countries. And things were fairly chaotic for several years after the revolution. Why not take it out then? Plus Mafia people are not completely brain dead. They know that the only way to keep the stash secret is to minimize the number of people who know about it. In that subculture that basically means one person. They are also aware of the “life expectancy” issues in the field. If only one (or maybe two) people know about it and they get taken out, then the money’s just lost to their families. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/10 "2015-08-15T14:48:25Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > - Lest this be taken for exaggeration, here’s [\*\*a mansion in Florida \*\*](http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/935-Hillsboro-Mile-Hillsboro-Beach-FL-33062/42937368_zpid/)for $139 million for people who worked very hard and never missed a day’s work. I like the numbers at Zillow: Mortgage P&I: $515,174 Taxes: $139,000 Insurance: $67 Oh, and ADT security for $35.99 per month. I guess this is how you get that sweet insurance deal. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/11 "2015-08-15T16:12:59Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Would American notes from the 50s still be usable? My understanding is yes, American currency back to the Civil War is still redeemable at face value. (Of course much of the older currency, particularly if in good condition, is worth more to a numismatist than face value.) ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/12 "2015-08-15T16:33:22Z")
With such a large number of notes, if a bank or dealer is unwilling the mafioso merely has to contact the Treasury Department for redemption. Or the Catholic Church. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/13 "2015-08-15T16:52:39Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Cuz they want to hide it and not have it found by the government? > > There was a local drug lord whose estate was dug up by the government once taken down, they found many barrels filled with nothing but cash, millions. I’d love to read more about that. Got a link? ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/14 "2015-08-15T17:16:53Z")
I’m going to Cuba in a few weeks. If anyone wants to tell me where to dig I’ll happily research this for you. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/15 "2015-08-15T20:00:01Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > I’d love to read more about that. Got a link? The druglord was Dole Chadee: > **[Dole Chadee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dole_Chadee)** > > Dole Chadee (born Nankissoon Boodram) (executed June 4, 1999) was an accused drug lord and convicted murderer. His base of operation was in Piparo, Trinidad and Tobago. > Chadee was reputed to be one of the top drug lords in the Caribbean, but was never convicted of drug-related offenses. Together with eight members of his gang, he was convicted of the January 10, 1994 murders of Deo, Rookmin, Hamilton and Monica Baboolal of Piparo. All nine were executed over a four-day period in Port of Spain. D... Local papers and media have a fleeting online presence, this is the best I could find but I have seen footage of the blue plastic shipping barrels being dug up. This is a copy and paste of an article. [http://www.caribplanet.com/community/archive/index.php/t-39619.html](http://www.caribplanet.com/community/archive/index.php/t-39619.html) > [@](#): > > Vasquez said he never asked the origin of the money. > > “That is a fact. I would go to the hardware sometimes with $10,000, $20,000 in dollar bills and the hardware people would see me coming and say ‘oh God, no’, because they have to count it all.” > > No, Chadee’s estate did not have secret tunnels or underground bunkers to store an arsenal of weapons or give Chadee an avenue of escape. > > Yes, the army did find several blue, plastic barrels buried in the ground and stuffed with millions of dollars. And I found an unrelated and different druglord in El Salvador who likes The Bank Of Mother Earth: [https://publicintelligence.net/fifth-barrel-of-money-found-in-el-salvador/](https://publicintelligence.net/fifth-barrel-of-money-found-in-el-salvador/) > [@](#): > > Barrels Containing Over $4.2 Million Found in El Salvador (Latin American Herald Tribune): > > The National Civilian Police, or PNC, and prosecutors found more than $4.2 million inside two barrels buried in Lourdes Colon, a city in central El Salvador, raising the amount of cash found in similar hiding places in the past two weeks to nearly $15 million, officials said. > > The first barrel, which contained nearly $4.25 million was discovered Friday night at a house in an upscale residential area in Lourdes Colon, located about 19 kilometers (12 miles) east of San Salvador in La Libertad province, the PNC said. > > The barrel “has characteristics similar to those of the two barrels found in Penitente Abajo district” in Zacatecoluca, a town some 56 kilometers (35 miles) southeast of the capital, earlier this month, the PNC said. > > The barrel contained 85 packets of $50,000 and $10,000, Radio Nacional El Salvador reported. So yes It is plausible, turns out Breaking Bad wasn’t too far off the mark. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/16 "2015-08-15T20:40:29Z")
The Castro revolution in Cuba didn’t happen overnight. The rebel forces spent something like four months fighting their way from the mountains toward the cities. Havana itself didn’t fall for at least a day after Batista fled the country. If someone had buried $1.5 million, they would have had to have been profoundly stupid to ignore the warning signs and not get the money out of there. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/17 "2015-08-15T21:13:54Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > With such a large number of notes, if a bank or dealer is unwilling the mafioso merely has to contact the Treasury Department for redemption. > Or the Catholic Church. Ok - but if you try to bank a large amount of cash, the _whoever deals with money laundering_ people will surely want a word? ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2015, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/18 "2015-08-16T06:29:48Z")
The cut-off for Federal reporting of cash transactions is $10,000. Open lots and lots of accounts with $9,999. problem solved! ---
**Author:** ![Obtenebrate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9f8e36/32.png) [@Obtenebrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obtenebrate)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/19 "2015-08-17T04:40:39Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > The cut-off for Federal reporting of cash transactions is $10,000. > Open lots and lots of accounts with $9,999. > problem solved! Except that you would have committed a crime by doing so; deliberately structuring transactions to avoid reporting requirements is against the law even if the money was obtained legitimately. Granted, this is probably only going to get discovered if you’re dumb and open all of these accounts at the same bank, or if you’re being investigated for something else and they subpeona your financials. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-money-buried-in-cuba/727877/20 "2015-08-17T18:41:52Z")
> [@Obtenebrate](#): > > Except that you would have committed a crime by doing so; deliberately structuring transactions to avoid reporting requirements is against the law even if the money was obtained legitimately. Granted, this is probably only going to get discovered if you’re dumb and open all of these accounts at the same bank, or if you’re being investigated for something else and they subpeona your financials. “Structuring” is what the Feds charged former Rep. Hastert with. Presumably he wasn’t “dumb”, perhaps just arrogant?