Cuba Disrupts Alleged 'Terror' Plot Reportedly Funded from the US

Around three dozen individuals have been apprehended due to their connections to an alleged criminal organization functioning out of Florida.

Victor Alvarez Valle, the chief criminal investigator with Cuba’s Interior Ministry, disclosed on Monday that a perceived terror plot involving weapons illicitly imported from the US has been thwarted by Cuban authorities.

The nefarious plot was first uncovered in December of the previous year, when a man was arrested by law enforcement for entering the country illegally from Florida, the neighboring US state. The man was found with guns, ammunition, and military equipment and was suspected of planning to carry out "violent actions" in Cuba.

The man was identified as Ardenys Garcia, a 40-year-old Cuban living in Florida who illegally migrated to the US in 2014. According to investigating officials, Garcia’s arrest triggered a wide-ranging seven-month inquiry which unearthed an extensive terror plot. Allegedly, this plot was “devised, coordinated, backed and bankrolled by a group of Cuban terrorists in the US” known as La Nueva Nacion Cubana.

Investigators believe Garcia was acting on command from the aforementioned group, orchestrating assaults against civilians in Cuba. In addition to gun-running to Cuba, Garcia was tasked with stirring an armed resistance within Cuba and executing acts of terror aimed at crippling the Cuban government. Altogether, 32 Cuban residents were implicated in the plot, with Garcia being the principal suspect.

Officials leveled accusations against Garcia for “unlawful entry into national territory and acts against state security.” Further charges related to espionage were under consideration, according to Alvarez, which can lead to a prison sentence of up to 30 years. Other persons of interest have been detained but not formally accused, pending ongoing investigations.

US authorities have been alerted about the investigation, but according to Alvarez, there has been no cooperation offered and no actions taken against the alleged terror group operating in the US. He added, “These individuals continue to act with impunity in North American territory, organizing, financing and supporting activities of a violent nature in order to subvert the internal order of our country.”

A US State Department official responded to these allegations in a statement to Reuters on Monday, acknowledging the existence of the investigation. However, they clarified that American law enforcement “prosecutes individuals based on US law and does not take direction from foreign governments.”

Aarav Patel for TROIB News