Posted on Fri, Jan. 13, 2006
MIAMI
Theft of laptop raises spy concerns
A group of anti-Castro activists wonders if spies may have stolen a laptop computer from their office during Hurricane Wilma.
BY DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com
Somebody mysteriously broke into the Miami offices of a vocal anti-Castro Cuban exile group. No violent entry. No desks disturbed.
Nothing was taken -- save a laptop computer.
It didn't happen during Miami's turbulent Cold War days. Instead, the burglary was reported at the office of the Cuban Liberty Council as Miami shut down in October during Hurricane Wilma.
With reports of alleged Cuban spies again drawing headlines, the council is wondering anew: Work of spies sent by Fidel Castro?
''It could be a burglary like any that happens a thousand times in this city,'' council president Ninoska Perez-Castellon said Thursday. ``But there's always the possibility when you hear about cases of Cuban spies.''
The laptop contained information about donors to the council, as well as the dissident groups in Cuba that receive the council's contributions, she said.
There's no hard evidence anything overly nefarious took place -- it was only one of some 5,200 burglaries reported in Miami last year.
But for the council, concerns continue because two Florida International University staffers were arrested last week for not registering as foreign agents and allegedly providing information about the exile community to Cuba.
In 2001, five Cubans were convicted of infiltrating Miami's exile community and trying to pass U.S. military secrets to Havana. Their appeal is pending.
The laptop was discovered missing from the council's offices on Halloween.
The office building where the council has a suite on Southwest 27th Avenue and Eighth Street had been closed for a week because of Hurricane Wilma. It's unclear exactly what day the laptop was taken.
A few days after the laptop was reported stolen, a digital projector was taken from an unrelated office in the building -- police believe burglars entered through windows blown out by Wilma.
In the council's case, police figure someone picked a lock to get in.
The burglar stole only the $1,500 Apple laptop, from the desk of Ella De La Fe, who handles accounting for the council.
Both the council and Miami police notified the feds, but agents weren't needed, said FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela.
''It was considered a local issue,'' she said.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/13614799.htm
MIAMI
Theft of laptop raises spy concerns
A group of anti-Castro activists wonders if spies may have stolen a laptop computer from their office during Hurricane Wilma.
BY DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com
Somebody mysteriously broke into the Miami offices of a vocal anti-Castro Cuban exile group. No violent entry. No desks disturbed.
Nothing was taken -- save a laptop computer.
It didn't happen during Miami's turbulent Cold War days. Instead, the burglary was reported at the office of the Cuban Liberty Council as Miami shut down in October during Hurricane Wilma.
With reports of alleged Cuban spies again drawing headlines, the council is wondering anew: Work of spies sent by Fidel Castro?
''It could be a burglary like any that happens a thousand times in this city,'' council president Ninoska Perez-Castellon said Thursday. ``But there's always the possibility when you hear about cases of Cuban spies.''
The laptop contained information about donors to the council, as well as the dissident groups in Cuba that receive the council's contributions, she said.
There's no hard evidence anything overly nefarious took place -- it was only one of some 5,200 burglaries reported in Miami last year.
But for the council, concerns continue because two Florida International University staffers were arrested last week for not registering as foreign agents and allegedly providing information about the exile community to Cuba.
In 2001, five Cubans were convicted of infiltrating Miami's exile community and trying to pass U.S. military secrets to Havana. Their appeal is pending.
The laptop was discovered missing from the council's offices on Halloween.
The office building where the council has a suite on Southwest 27th Avenue and Eighth Street had been closed for a week because of Hurricane Wilma. It's unclear exactly what day the laptop was taken.
A few days after the laptop was reported stolen, a digital projector was taken from an unrelated office in the building -- police believe burglars entered through windows blown out by Wilma.
In the council's case, police figure someone picked a lock to get in.
The burglar stole only the $1,500 Apple laptop, from the desk of Ella De La Fe, who handles accounting for the council.
Both the council and Miami police notified the feds, but agents weren't needed, said FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela.
''It was considered a local issue,'' she said.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/13614799.htm
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