PUNTA GORDA, Toledo District, Mon. Aug. 24, 2020– A policeman was caught smuggling a border-jumper from Guatemala, who was pregnant, into the country. The woman gave birth at the Punta Gorda Hospital yesterday, and the birth went well, according to reports.

The woman and her baby, however, will be placed in quarantine and at the end of the quarantine, she will be charged for border-jumping.

Police said that while conducting a roadblock on the Jalacte road yesterday, they stopped a vehicle being driven by a uniformed police officer of the Punta Gorda police.

The vehicle was traveling from the area bordering Guatemala on the Jalacte road to Punta Gorda. A search of the vehicle was made, and police found a pregnant Guatemalan woman hiding in the back seat of the vehicle.

The woman could not present any document to prove she was legally in the country, and she and the policeman were taken to the Ministry of Health to be tested for COVID-19, after which they were both placed into quarantine.

The woman told police that she is a Belizean living in Guatemala.

There are now harsh punishments for border-jumping, and bail cannot be granted by the Magistrate’s Court to those who are charged for the offense. They can only seek to access bail from the Supreme Court.

The policeman can expect to be sent to jail, because Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte has said that anyone caught border-jumping will be sent to jail for 3 months for the first offense, without any argument.