CALLA CREEK, Cayo District, Wed. Sept. 26, 2018– Two Guatemalans who were busted with 40 cases of contraband Respekt 25WG insecticide, have been arrested and handed over to the Customs and Excise Department. Information to us is that at about 11:30 Saturday morning, police were conducting operations in Calla Creek, Cayo District, when they stopped a red pickup and found the insecticide inside. Police requested the permits for the insecticide from two men who were in the pickup, but they weren’t able to show the permits or any Customs documents. The two men in the vehicle were identified as Humberto Monroy, 33, and Ervin Garcia, 35, both Guatemalans from Melchor De Mencos in Guatemala. They were both arrested and handed over to the Customs Department, and the contraband goods were confiscated.
The men also have to answer to charges of illegal entry. Yesterday, Erwin Garcia was taken to the San Ignacio Magistrate’s Court by the Immigration Department to be charged for illegal entry, and he was fined $1,000 to be paid immediately. He was unable to pay and has been sentenced to 6 months imprisonment. Monroy has not yet been taken to court to answer to the charge of illegal entry.
Information to us is that the 40 cases of Respekt 25WG insecticide have a combined local market value of $171,000 dollars. The men could be offered the opportunity to settle out of court. If they are tried in court and found guilty of the offense, they could face a fine of three times the value of the insecticide — over $500,000. Some experts told police that this quantity of insecticide could treat crops on about 5,000 acres of land.
The insecticide is being held as evidence at this time. The Registrar of Pesticides, Ms. Miriam Ochaeta Serrut, explained that the Pesticides Control Board (PCB) is in uncharted territory because in its 30 years of existence, this is the first interception of a such a large quantity of smuggled pesticides (insecticide). If the product is handed over to the PCB, the organization will need to formulate policy to address the matter.
When a “legitimate” importer of pesticides is “ignorant” of the importation requirements and imports an unregistered pesticide and declares it at an official port of entry, the importer is given the option to return the product to its origin, or to apply for its registration. If the importer decides to apply for its registration, the product is withheld until the registration process is completed.
In the case where an intercepted product contains a prohibited active ingredient, it would not be allowed entry. In the case of Respekt 25 WG, this insecticide contains an active ingredient, thiamethoxam, which is registered for use in Belize. However, in this case, since the product was being introduced illegally, the “considerations” do not apply.
It has been mentioned in some quarters that the intercepted insecticide would be destroyed by the PCB. The PCB Registrar explained that destruction of pesticides entails high temperature incineration and there are no such facilities in the region. The PCB could facilitate the destruction of the insecticide abroad.
Just last year, in June 2017, pesticides that PCB has confiscated over the years were exported for final disposal in France under the Department of the Environment’s “Belize Chemicals and Waste Management Project”, with funding from the Global Environmental Facility.