Florida has secured a no-bond state arrest warrant for former Cuban leader Raúl Castro in the 1996 shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue planes that killed four men, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Monday as he held a news conference at Florida International University.
A Miami-Dade County judge signed the warrant Friday, finding probable cause that Castro conspired to commit first-degree murder, according to the Miami Herald. Castro, now 95, already faces a federal indictment from May charging him with murder and conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals in the same attack, the Herald and WSVN 7News reported.
AG James Uthmeier Announces Florida Arrest Warrant for Raúl Castro for Conspiracy to Commit First-Degree Murder https://t.co/xFP8AbocJf
— Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) October 19, 2026
Uthmeier said in a statement reported by the Miami Herald that “Raul Castro ordered the murder of four Floridians in cold blood, and Florida will never stop pursuing accountability for that communist conspiracy.” On X, his office posted that he was announcing the Florida warrant for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
What the warrant alleges
The Feb. 24, 1996, attack destroyed two civilian Brothers to the Rescue aircraft over what the United States and a United Nations investigation concluded were international waters, according to the Miami Herald. The victims were Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña, Pablo Morales, and Carlos Costa, WSVN reported. Three were U.S. citizens and one was a legal permanent resident, according to the Herald.
Castro was Cuba’s defense minister and head of the armed forces at the time, according to the Miami Herald and WSVN. The Castros claimed the flights were over Cuban waters; U.S. and U.N. findings rejected that claim, the Herald reported.
According to the affidavit summarized by the Miami Herald, Florida’s jurisdiction rests on the actions of Cuban spies who operated in Miami and Key West and allegedly infiltrated Brothers to the Rescue. The affidavit says the spies reported on Naval Air Station Key West and were told to transmit Brothers to the Rescue flight data to Cuban authorities. It also says the spy network told the moles not to fly with the group between Feb. 24 and Feb. 27, 1996, and that one of them left Florida for Cuba on Feb. 23 — the day before the shootdown.
That was enough, the affidavit argues, for probable cause that a conspiracy took place in Florida and that Castro agreed with others to commit first-degree murder of the people aboard the aircraft, according to the Herald.
Federal case already pending
In May, the U.S. Justice Department announced charges against Castro and five others at Miami’s Freedom Tower, WSVN reported. U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said then, according to WSVN, “The United States and President Trump does not, and will not, forget its citizens.”
Florida Attorney General Uthmeier stood with federal officials at that May announcement, WSVN noted. The new state warrant was signed by Chief Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan of the 11th Judicial Circuit, the Miami Herald reported. The warrant indicates Florida will seek extradition if Castro is arrested outside the state, according to WSVN and the Herald.
Friends and family of the victims welcomed the state action even after years of waiting, WSVN reported. “Justice has happened. Not total, but it is some justice,” one family member told the station.
Fox News carried Uthmeier’s Monday news conference live. Uthmeier was expected to be joined by officials including FIU leadership and federal and local law-enforcement partners, according to WINK News coverage of the event.
Sources
- Attorney General James Uthmeier on X: Announcement of Florida arrest warrant for Raúl Castro
- Fox News on X: Live coverage of the news conference
- WSVN 7News on X: Florida obtains arrest warrant for Raúl Castro
- WSVN 7News: Florida obtains arrest warrant for Raúl Castro in Brothers to the Rescue shootdown
- Miami Herald: Miami judge signs warrant for Raul Castro on state charges
Sources cited
Sources
- Original post: Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) on X, Oct 19, 2026
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