The yacht, La Esperanza (English: The Hope), was discovered to be hiding a cache of weapons and military grade intelligence gear, including: two .50 caliber sniper rifles, GPS equipment, lightweight radios, night-vision goggles, and 12 rounds for a .357 pistol.
[3][5][6][7] On August 25, 1998, the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) announced it had indicted Llama with conspiracy to assassinate Cuban leader, Fidel Castro.
[2][4][5][6][7] A jury acquitted them on December 8, 1999, after a federal judge threw out one of the defendants’ self-incriminating statement, Angel Alfonso Aleman's, who stated upon the ship's boarding by Customs officials that "They are weapons for the purpose of assassinating Fidel Castro.
[failed verification] In the interview he mentioned a list of items acquired for carrying out the assassination: a cargo helicopter, ten ultralight radio-controlled planes, seven vessels, and explosives.
One of those vessels was the Midnight Express fast boat, meant to take the CANF leader at the time, Jorge Mas Canosa to Cuba if a power struggle erupted or the missions were completed.