SANTA FAMILIA, Cayo District, Tues. July 21, 2020– A cache of 68 cases of assorted contraband beer was found in a house in Santa Familia by Customs personnel and police who were acting on information they had received.

The cache consisted of Mexican and Guatemalan beer, believed to have been smuggled into Santa Familia by contrabandists who illegally crossed the border to bring the beer into the village.

All the beer was confiscated by Customs personnel and declared unaccustomed goods. Investigations have begun to locate the owner of the house in which the beer was found.

The border jumping by contrabandists who smuggle beer into the village is occurring at a time when the Ministry of Health is calling on members of the community not to engage in border jumping because there are high rates of COVID-19 infection in the neighboring countries.

Today, Chetumal, Mexico, is reporting 6,369 positive COVID-19  cases, with 826 COVID-related  deaths.

Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director of the Ministry of Health, said that border jumpers are posing a grave danger to the country and could thwart the effort to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus, because they come in illegally and they circumvent the safety mechanisms put in place to contain the disease.

The Government calls on people living in the border areas of the country to be vigilant and report anyone suspected of having jumped the borders, and to not allow border jumpers to infect their communities.