7 News Belize

The Almost Got Off Scott Free
posted (May 28, 2020)

Last night we told you about the 6 men who the Coast Guard caught off the coast of Punta Gorda town. The group comprised four businessmen of Chinese descent from Corozal and Punta Gorda, along with two other locals. The BDF spotted them picking up a package within Belizean waters from a vessel that seemed to have come across form Guatemala.

When the Coast Guard intercepted them - they had an icebox of shrimp on board, along with a Case of Corona beer.

They were detained for what looked like a whole bunch of offences, and Immigration put them up at the Frontier Hotel pending review for quarantine.

But the Ministry of Health said it had no interest in quarantining them since they had not crossed into Guatemala. And then Customs said that they would only warn them for the Corona beer - which customs then falsely claimed to have confiscated. Our sources tell us that the beer was not confiscated after all - but it was consumed right at the hotel. And then police said they had no charge for them.

That is until the social media pressure started coming down - and last night the commissioner of police told us that they would be charged for failure to give a proper reason to explain their movements outside of curfew. But by the time he told us that yesterday, PG police had already lost track of them, and last night police sent out an internal notice to seek the men at a checkpoint.

We understand that they were charged and will appear in Punta Gorda court on Monday.

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