HAVANA (AP) — Senior Cuban Interior Ministry officials released for the first time late Friday what they said were items hidden on a Florida-flagged speedboat that opened fire on troops this week in waters off the island’s north coast, and soldiers responded and killed four suspects.
Officials also told The Associated Press that authorities were able to determine that the 10 Cuban suspects left the United States on two ships, but one failed, so they moved all supplies to the remaining ship while the other was adrift.
The government said the detained suspects disclosed the details and stressed that they immediately contacted the U.S. Coast Guard.
Cuban officials said the following items were on board: a dozen high-performance weapons, one with a scope; a large cooler filled with more than 12,800 pieces of ammunition; 11 handguns; heavy-duty boots, a helmet with a camera; and a camouflage backpack.
“We were clearly able to assess that we were facing a terrorist act from a vessel from the United States,” Ivey Daniel Carballo, 1st colonel of the Cuban Border Guard, told The Associated Press.
The 30-foot (9-meter) Border Patrol boat spotted an intruder on Wednesday morning and came within about 600 feet (185 meters) to investigate, but came under heavy-caliber gunfire, according to Carballo.
He said three attackers were killed immediately and a fourth was wounded and later died.
Caraballo said the speedboat was located about a mile (1.6 kilometers) northeast of Falcones Island on the island’s north coast. He added that the commander of the border guard force was injured.
Victor Eduardo Álvarez Valle, one of the heads of national security criminal investigations at the interior ministry, told The Associated Press that authorities were surprised by the resistance they encountered.
“We didn’t expect this to happen, especially with so many people and weapons,” he said.
Alvarez added: “The attackers have identified the military equipment found on the ship, including where and how they obtained it, and the training they received. They have also revealed the sponsors.”
He noted that officials found 13 bullet holes on the border boat and another 21 on the suspect’s boat, “which means there was a fight.”
The Cuban government reported Wednesday that one person had been arrested on land, but Alvarez said there was no information so far that the suspect had any support network on the island.
Edward Robert Campbell, chief prosecutor of the Cuban Attorney General’s Office, told The Associated Press that the six arrested people of Cuban origin could face terrorism charges and could be sentenced to 30 years in prison, life imprisonment, or even the death penalty, although the latter have been on probation for more than a decade.
The Associated Press was granted access to meet with Cuban military officials and to show the public for the first time items on display at the former Cuban Radio and Television Institute headquarters.
U.S. Secretary of State Rubio said that this was not an action by the U.S. government, which was collecting its own information.