A federal grand jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Thursday charged four Cuban exiles with illegal importation of firearms and making false statements. The four were arrested Oct. 27 off the southwest coast of Puerto Rico, aboard a boat in which authorities found two powerful rifles designed for military use.

The grand jury did not charge the exiles with conspiracy to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro, an indictment the FBI had announced it would seek. According to a Coast Guard official, one of the boat's occupants said at the time of the arrest that the weapons were to be used to kill the Cuban leader.

The defendants -- Angel Alfonso Aleman, Juan Bautista Marquez, Angel Hernandez Rojo and Francisco Cordova -- were released on bail and reportedly are in Florida and New Jersey.

According to the indictment, the defendants illegally introduced into the United States two .50-caliber Barrett rifles and lied ``in a fraudulent manner'' when they told Customs officials that they didn't know the weapons were aboard their boat, La Esperanza.

The semiautomatic rifles were found in a secret compartment under the stairs of the 46-foot craft by Coast Guard officials during a search of the boat.

According to testimony given by one of the Coast Guard officials, Alfonso said the weapons would be used to assassinate Fidel Castro when he arrived that weekend at Venezuela's Margarita Island to attend the Ibero-American Summit Conference. Alfonso's lawyer denied his client made such a statement.

The defendants will be summoned to appear in court Wednesday in San Juan to hear the charges.

Copyright © 1997 The Miami Herald