BY MANNY GARCIA AND JUAN O. TAMAYO

 Miami-Dade police were so concerned about a possible attempt to snatch Elian
 Gonzalez during his grandmothers' stop at the Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport
 that they were ready to disable their jet if anyone tried to put him aboard.

 ''A couple of officers said they would throw their PR-24s [nightsticks] into the jet's
 engine if it tried to fly off with the child, said one investigator who guarded the
 women Monday at the West Kendall airport.

 ''It was really, really tense, said the investigator, who like other Miami-Dade police
 officers agreed to recount the incident for The Herald under promise of anonymity.

 The incident also raised concerns that the Cuban government, which had stayed
 away from Raquel Rodriguez and Mariela Quintana during their earlier visits to
 New York and Washington, had seized a stronger role in their activities.

 The women slept Monday night in the Washington home of a Cuban Interests
 Section official, and were expected to be accompanied by Cuban officials when
 they return to Miami today to meet Elian at the home of Barry University's
 president.

 The U.S. National Council of Churches, which has sponsored the grandmothers'
 visit so far, denied any Cuban takeover. ''The grandmothers are still making the
 decisions, spokesman Randy Naylor said.

 Police investigators said their concerns about an attempt to snatch Elian began
 after they spotted three suspicious men at 5 p.m. Monday trying to enter the
 TACAIR terminal where the grandmothers were negotiating for a meeting with the
 6-year-old boy, perhaps at the airport.

 One of the men was snapping photographs of the jet that flew the women from
 New York, the throngs of journalists gathered there and even some of the cops
 guarding the area, one investigator said.

 Officers who walked up to the man overheard him talking on a cellular telephone,
 apparently to Ricardo Alarcon, head of the Cuban legislature and the
 government's lead official on the Elian dispute.

 ''Señor Alarcon, they won't let me in, one investigator quoted the man as saying
 into the telephone. ''I'm trying to resolve this issue.

 Police said they later stopped and questioned the man, who identified himself as
 Jose Imperatori, a ''second secretary consular officer with the Cuban Interests
 Section, in effect the Cuban Embassy.

 Police identified a second man as Ernesto Cabrera, 44, of 9257 SW 166 Ct.,
 Miami, but the third man apparently managed to drive away in the confusion.

 Cabrera confirmed to The Herald that police had stopped him at the airport but
 claimed to know nothing about any Cuban diplomat. He was there to visit an
 airplane museum at the airport, Cabrera insisted.

 Police investigators said they grew more worried about an attempt to force Elian
 aboard the women's executive jet when they recognized some of the guards at
 the terminal as members of INS' so-called grab-and-bag squad, which handles
 forced repatriations of convicted felons.

 Several of the Miami-Dade officers at the terminal talked among themselves about
 the possibility of an INS or Cuban attempt to snatch the boy, and even relayed
 their concerns to a supervisor, one investigator said.

 ''My decision was to disable the airplane, throw in a nightstick and shred that
 engine, one police officer said.

 Naylor, who accompanied the grandmothers at the terminal, said Imperatori
 arrived in Miami on a commercial flight from Washington and went to the Tamiami
 airport Monday to try to meet with the grandmothers.

 ''I don't know why he was there. . . . He said he was simply getting anxious
 because he had not seen his people, Naylor said, recalling that the grandmothers
 had repeatedly expressed concerns about their security if they visited Miami.

 NCC officials decided not to allow Imperatori to meet with the women but sent
 Naylor to tell him that the grandmothers were still negotiating with Elian's
 great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez.

 Only when it was clear the negotiations would not produce a neutral meeting
 place was he allowed to talk to the women, in the presence of the NCC officials,
 Naylor added.

 ''He certainly was not there influencing their decision in any way, Naylor said,
 adding that the meeting lasted only 20-30 minutes.

 One policeman in the terminal said, however, that Imperatori met with the
 grandmothers for some two hours and that he was the one who officially
 announced that the women would be flying to Washington Monday night.

 ''He came out of a room and asked where the jet's pilots were, because he
 wanted the plane gassed up and ready to leave for Washington, the policeman
 said.

 Imperatori flew with the women to Washington, but could not be reached for
 comment Tuesday.

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald