RANCHITO, Corozal District, Fri. June 19, 2015–Three men and a woman, all residents of Ranchito, have been remanded to the Belize Central Prison on drug trafficking charges until September 3 after they were busted with approximately 16.5 pounds of heroin. They were remanded today at the Corozal Magistrate’s Court.
The men are Fermin Velasquez, 25; Eber Rivera, 38, and Chinese hotel owner Kua Hsiung Liao. The woman is Alba Velasquez, a mother of two children.
Police said they were conducting operations in Ranchito Village when they observed a businessman making some visits to a house which was in need of repairs. When the man went to the house again, police went to the house to see what was happening.
Police said that when they entered the house they found the three men with seven parcels. When the parcels were opened in front of them, the addictive drug known as heroin was in them. The three men and Alba Velasquez, who was in the upper flat of the house, were all arrested.
The 16.5 pounds of heroin is estimated to be worth over $1.5 million dollars.