We've all heard of crafty ways to destroy incriminating evidence. But, Ian Joseph Smith, a 48-year-old American national residing on Caye Caulker, is being accused of taking it to the next level. Police say that while he was in their custody, he managed to swallow a bullet and a small quantity of cocaine that they caught him with.
The incident happened at around 1:00 on Friday, November 15th. Two police officers were on patrol when they met Smith, and found four transparent plastic bags with crack cocaine. They continued to search him, and that's when they found a single, live, 9 millimeter round of a Smith and Wesson brand.
It should have been a textbook finish, where the officers weighed the drugs and found out that it had a total amount of 0.4 grams. The officers were starting to process to bring criminal charges against him, but Smith had other plans. He suddenly jumped up from a chair where he was seated, grabbed the suspected drugs and the bullet, shoved them in his mouth, and swallowed. The WPC reacted to try and stop him, and that's when he allegedly punched her to the left side of the face.
So, for the time being, that evidence is gone. That's why the officers have resorted instead to charging him with 2 counts of obstruction, 1 count of resisting arrest, and 1 count of assaulting a police officer. And after allegedly doing something so brazen as that, Smith, the savage, isn't accepting guilt for these charges either.
When he was arraigned today before Magistrate Stephanie Gillett, he pleaded not guilty to all 4 offenses, and he was released on bail of $2,000. He must return to court on January 6th, 2020.
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