The Florida Attorney General warned this Monday that new charges could be filed in the investigation against Raúl Castro for his alleged involvement in the downing of two aircraft from Brothers to the Rescue, which took place on February 24, 1996, over international waters, resulting in the deaths of four men.
The warning appears in the official statement released by Attorney General James Uthmeier, which announces a state arrest warrant against the dictator Raúl Castro Ruz on a charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
"The case remains active and additional charges may be filed," the Prosecutor's Office noted at the end of its communication.
For now, the arrest warrant includes a state charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, in accordance with sections 777.04(3) and 782.04(1)(a)1 of the Florida Statutes.
The Prosecutor's Office specified that the offense is classified as a first-degree felony and that the court ordered the warrant to be issued without the right to bail.
The document was signed by Ariana Fajardo Orshan, Chief Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida.
Uthmeier publicly presented the legal action this Monday during a press conference at the Florida International University (FIU) School of Law.
According to reported Local 10, the attorney general was emphatic regarding the 1996 attack: "What happened was not an accident, it was murder," he asserted.
The victims were Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario de la Peña, and Armando Alejandre Jr, who were traveling in two civilian aircraft from Hermanos al Rescate, an organization founded in Miami in 1991 to locate and assist endangered Cuban migrants at sea.
De la Peña was 24 years old; Costa and Morales were 29; and Alejandre was 45 when the planes were shot down.
In his official statement, Uthmeier directly accused Raúl Castro of having ordered the attack.
Raúl Castro ordered the cold-blooded assassination of four Floridians, and Florida will never cease to demand accountability for that communist conspiracy,” stated the Attorney General, according to a translation of his words into Spanish.
The official also stated that Cuban intelligence agents operated in communities in Florida, sent information to Havana, and helped to target civilian pilots for the MiG fighters.
"Thirty years later, we continue to fight for justice for Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario de la Peña, and Armando Alejandre Jr.," he added.
The new judicial action is the result of an investigation that Uthmeier ordered to reopen after taking office in 2025, which involves the Office of Statewide Prosecution (OSP) and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).
The reactivation of the case was publicly announced in March 2026, when the prosecutor explained that authorities would resume investigations to determine possible criminal responsibilities for the downing of the aircraft.
According to the sworn statement described by the Prosecutor's Office, Raúl Castro, then Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) and First Vice President of Cuba, would have been one of those responsible for the final decision within the chain of command that authorized the shooting down.
Authorities attribute prior instructions to senior military officials for the aircraft to be shot down at sea without the need for additional consultations.
The sworn statement also indicates that agents from the Cuban Intelligence Directorate, members of the so-called Wasp Network, operated in the counties of Miami-Dade and Monroe.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, the agents infiltrated Brothers to the Rescue, gathered and transmitted information about their flight plans, and supported the so-called Operation Scorpion, which was related to the preparation of the attack.
On February 24, 1996, three unarmed Cessna civil aircraft took off from Opa-locka Airport in Miami-Dade.
After crossing south of the 24th parallel, in an area outside Cuban territorial waters, two of the aircraft were destroyed by MiG military planes using air-to-air missiles.
The four occupants of the two affected planes died.
The state statement asserts that both aircraft were leaving Cuba and did not receive warnings before being shot down, despite having maintained contact with Havana air traffic control.
One of the central elements of the state procedure is the alleged involvement of intelligence agents from Florida.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, the sworn statement identifies activities related to the collection and transmission of information about flights, as well as intelligence directives, which took place in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, corresponding to Miami-Dade, and the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, corresponding to Monroe.
The State Processing Office will assume jurisdiction over the alleged organized criminal conspiracy that spanned both judicial circuits.
Michael Stein, the special agent in charge of the FDLE, emphasized that the agency has taken a leading role in the investigation and that the passage of time does not diminish its commitment to solving the case.
“The passage of time does not diminish the pursuit of justice,” Stein stated in the official release.
The new state order comes five months after the United States Department of Justice announced an expanded federal indictment against Raúl Castro and five others for their alleged involvement in the same events.
On May 20, 2026, the Federal Prosecutor's Office for the Southern District of Florida reported on seven charges: one for conspiracy to kill American citizens, two for destruction of aircraft, and four for murder.
Among the defendants in that federal proceeding are, in addition to Castro, Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez, Emilio José Palacio Blanco, José Fidel Gual Barzaga, Raúl Simanca Cárdenas, and Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez.
The federal indictment identifies four victims, three of whom were U.S. citizens. Pablo Morales was a legal resident in the United States.
Federal prosecutor Jason A. Reding Quiñones supported the actions announced this Monday by Florida and defended the possibility of developing parallel state and federal procedures.
"Our historic federal indictment laid the groundwork, and James and his team have now taken the important step of filing charges under Florida laws," Reding stated.
The official noted that federal authorities will continue to use the legal avenues available to seek accountability for the downing of the aircraft.
Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz also participated in the announcement and recalled the suffering of the victims' families over the past three decades.
"For thirty years, their families and our Cuban-American community have carried this profound loss and refused to allow the pursuit of justice to fade away," he stated.
Cordero-Stutz considered that the state order represents an important step in the efforts to hold accountable those responsible for the deaths of the four members of Hermanos al Rescate.
This Monday, it was reported that a Miami judge signed the arrest warrant against Raúl Castro, in an action independent of the federal process.
It was also reported that Florida would seek his extradition if he were arrested outside the state, in accordance with the provisions of the judicial procedure.
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