BELIZE CITY, Wed. Jan. 15, 2020– Eight foreigners, from Ecuador, Honduras and Mexico, who were jointly charged with drug trafficking for the importation of over 3,000 pounds of cocaine, appeared today before the Chief Magistrate, Sharon Fraser. They were brought to court under heavy security that was provided by the police’s GSU (Gang Suppression Unit). The accused men are Carlos Humberto Gomez Henriquez, David Noe Orellana Discua, Jacobo Yovanz Mejia Garcia, Juan Pablo Lorrea Cruz, Miguel Cruz Meseguer, Nolan Jose Carrasco Lopez, Terrencio Cruz and Allan Yovanni Mejia Chirnos.

Meseguer, the pilot of the aircraft that was allegedly used to transport the cocaine, and Juan Cruz, the co-pilot, were also charged with abetment to the importation of cocaine and landing an aircraft without the permission of the Minister of Aviation.

The prosecutor, Corporal Chris Smith, said that the case file is not ready yet and asked for an adjournment until March 18. Chief Magistrate Fraser ordered that disclosure be provided to the accused men by that time.

Smith also said that by March 18, he would have received instructions from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) as to the manner in which the trial would proceed.

The charges arose from a drug bust in September last year when police tracked down an aircraft that left from Venezuela and landed on the Coastal Road near La Democracia. The occupants of the aircraft did not surrender easily and there was an exchange of gunfire between them and the police, in which two of them were injured.

Two of the men were represented in court today by attorney Richard “Dickie” Bradley, while three of them were represented by attorney Oswald Twist.