Two Cuban Exiles Charged in Explosives Raid Here
By Denis Sneiger
Police last night arrested two Cuban exiles and seized 30 to 35 pounds of explosives, fuses, detonators and do-it-yourself bombs in a raid on a warehouse at 3060 NW River Dr.
Teofilo Babun, 49, 2890 NW 17th St., and his nephew, Santiago Babun, 30, 2754 NW 16th Ter., were charged with illegal possession of explosives.
Members of the Miami police and sheriff's criminal intelligence sections investigating the eight recent bombings, all with a Latin flavor, staged the raid.
They carried a search warrant and acted on an informer's tip.
The raiders hit the warehouse about 11:30 p.m. and later summoned the Babuns from their home.
Sgt. E. W. McCracken, of the Miami police, said the explosives were found in a second floor office of the warehouse owned by Antillean Shipping Company.
Some of the blasting material was in a desk in Santiago Babun's office. McCracken said Babun admitted owning the explosives but would not say where they got them.
The elder Babun was identified as vice president of the shipping corporation and his nephew was listed as an employee.
Sgt. Robert Hoelscher, of the Sheriff's department, said both Babuns were connected with anti-Castro activities and that Santiago Babun had been a member of the Bay of Pigs invasion force.
Hoelscher said Teofilo Babun owned three ships - the Johnny Express, the William Express, and the Omar express - running general cargo between Miami, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.
The Babuns were released on $2,500 bond each about six hours after their arrest. Officers listed the seized explosives as:
Three non-electric blasting caps, lengths of detonating cord, three one-third pound penolite boosters with cords, four homemade TNT bombs, six .30-caliber bandoleers containing TNT, two pieces of incendiary brick containing TNT, and 10 pounds of C-4, a plastic explosive.
C-4 has been the explosive used in some recent Miami bombings.
The raid followed by about 48 hours the attempted bombing of the Chilean consulate. The attempt was the eighth bombing in this area since January 1 although the bomb placed in the consulate did not explode. The detonator blew but did only minor damage.
The series of night bombings has been blamed by some of the victims on various anti-Castro Cuban exile groups.
One such group, calling itself Cuban Power, claimed credit for blasting a parked plane at Miami International Airport in January. The plane was loaded with parcels destined for Cuba.