There were rumours that Mexican gunmen would have attempted to free him
Zurisaday Villasenior Mendez, 22, a Mexican, who was on remand, was taken to the Corozal Magistrate’s Court on Friday, November 30, where he was further remanded to prison until Friday, December 7.
Police say that during a raid on Tuesday, October 30, 2012, in his room at the Las Vegas Hotel at the northern border, he was busted with a total of 7 guns, 12 magazines and 144 bullets.
Police charged Mendez with 1 count of keeping a prohibited firearm, 2 counts of keeping prohibited ammunition, 3 counts of keeping an unlicensed firearm, 4 counts of keeping unlicensed ammunition, 5 counts of drug trafficking, and 6 counts of possession of controlled drugs.
His attorney, Arthur Saldivar, waived his client’s rights for disclosure, and opted to go to trial a week later, on Friday, December 7.
Mendez, who lives in Quintana Roo, Mexico, was first taken to the Corozal Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, October 31, and was remanded to prison until Friday, November 30.
Police said that they had received information that gunmen from Mexico would attempt to rescue Mendez from custody, and he was escorted to court under heavy police security. Police ADU and the GSU provided the security, and the entire area around the Corozal Magistrate Court was under guard.
However, there was no incident and the court proceeding went smoothly.
The raid was conducted around 11:20 a.m. on Tuesday, October 30. A joint operation went to rooms 102 and 103 of the Las Vegas Hotel, and according to police, Mendez was found inside room 103, and on the bed with him was a black Glock .40 mm pistol, which was loaded with 14 live rounds.
Police said that they searched the room and found a black and grey Ruger 9mm pistol, which was loaded with 16 live rounds; they also found a silver and black magazine loaded with 10 live 9mm rounds.
Police said that they also found a transparent plastic bag containing around 28 grams of suspected cocaine; a zip lock plastic bag containing 9 grams of weed; an assortment of radio communication devices; antennae; cell phones; a green face-mask; and 2 pieces of jewelry.
The police officers who searched room 102 found keys to several vehicles, which included a Mazda car, a Chevrolet double cab pick-up, and a red Ford 250 pickup. The license plates of the vehicles were all missing.
When the vehicles were searched, police found two brown and black AK-47 high-power assault rifles, which were loaded with 30 and 26 live 7.62 rounds, respectively.
Police also found a brown and black G-Cherokee brand 9mm pistol loaded with 16 live rounds, and two black 9mm magazines, one loaded with 16 live rounds, and the other with 10 rounds. Two more magazines were found, but they were both empty.
Police also found two Colt Super .38 Auto pistols, one in the vehicle behind the passenger seat, and the other in a trash bag in a garbage bin behind the hotel, which was loaded with 6 rounds of .38 ammunition.