A pair of Guatemalans caught on the waters of the STANN CREEK District may also be among the first to face penalties under those strict, new contraband laws. On Tuesday morning police from the Intermediate Southern Formation received information of 2 vessels coming across from Guatemala with un customed goods, headed for the Old Forest Dock near Mango Creek.

A police surveillance team saw the vessels arriving at daybreak, and the cops sped to the dock where they found 2 Guatemalans on board, 42-year-old Alfredo Colon, and 38-year-old Junior Espinosa. A search of the 2 boats yielded a pair of cartons Of Ultra cigarettes and several other loose food items that did not originate in Belize.

Shortly after, a local fisherman arrived at the dock and claimed that the vessels are his.

Police took all three men to the Southern Regional hospital for quarantine.

The Guatemalans had no travel documents and no documents for the boats. They will be charged for immigration offences, plus face charges under the very strict new laws as border jumpers and contraband smugglers when they are out of quarantine.