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Venezuela's Drug Plane; is it the same one from the Southern Highway?

On Saturday, media reports in South America linked a major drug bust in Venezuela to Belize. According to the newspaper, La Patilla, a Super King Air was busted with millions of dollars worth of cocaine. Several law enforcement officers were implicated in the bust and two of them were shot during the incident. But that is not where the only coincidence lies with the last year's largest narco-trafficking bust in the Jewel. The newspaper was claiming that the plane, when its registration was checked on airframes.org, linked to Belize. It claimed that the drug plane was the same one that landed on the Southern Highway in Belize on November tenth, 2010. The website furnished pictures of the Belize incident and also alleged the plane was sold to a company in Florida and consequently resold to owners in Venezuela. But News Five spoke to Belize Defense Force Chief of Staff who refutes the allegation.

Lieutenant Colonel David Jones, B.D.F. Chief of Staff

"What I can tell you from the time that aircraft was in the drug bust on the Southern Highway. From the time that aircraft was flown into the Philip Goldson and then subsequently held by the Belize Defence Force, we still have that aircraft. That aircraft is currently at our B.D.F. air wing. And it is going to remain there until we get further direction from our government. As far as to the reports, I don't know where they got their information, but we still have that aircraft-it hasn't move sicne and it's not going to move now."

Jose Sanchez

"What they did was that they linked it through information received from different websites that track VIN numbers and they were saying that the aircraft was exported from Belize to the U.S. and back to Venezuela. So it is not the same aircraft?"

Lieutenant Colonel David Jones

"It must be a different aircraft because we still have the aircraft we captured on the highway. We still have it in custody and it is going to remain there."

Jose Sanchez

"The minister of police says that the aircraft will in the future belong to the B.D.F. for future use. Will it be part of your air wing?"

Lieutenant Colonel David Jones

"That has been in discussion that possibly it will go to the Belize Defence Force. If it does go to us, then it will be part of our air wing. But that hasn't been finalized as yet with the government so we are not sure of that yet. But that is the plan if it does happen and of course the B.D.F. would love to have it at the air wing."

Channel 5

Drug Plane Clones: Venezuelan and B'zean Drug Planes have Same Call Letters!

The story of a major drug bust in Venezuela on the 13th of this month has led all the way back to Belize. The seizure of 1.400 kilos of cocaine by Venezuelan security forces was indeed something for that country's government to celebrate, especially after coming under constant criticism from Washington for its shortcomings in combatting the narco-trafficking.

But the story took another twist after that country's Minister of the Interior and Justice departments, Tareck El Aissami, announced that the Beechcraft 300 aircraft used to transport the drugs, carried call letters belonging to the Beechcraft 300, similar to the one involved in one of Belize's biggest drug busts on the southern highway last November.

An investigation by Globovision, a Venezuelan TV revealed that the call letters that identified the Beechcraft 300 captured by Venezuelan authorities, are really those belonging to the one currently in possession by Belize's Defence Force.

The BDF's Acting Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel, James Requena told Seven News today while there might be copycat call letters on both planes, one thing is sure, and that is the Beechcraft 300 involved in last November's drug bust on the Southern Highway is still in this country's possession.

Lieutenant Colonel James Requena - BDF's Acting Chief of Staff
"The discrepancy, from our point of view, would be the tail number on the aircraft. As you can clearly see, on the tail of the aircraft that we have behind us the numbers were stickered on. These stickers can be made or bought by anyone and placed on the aircraft. When you're flying an aircraft with stickered numbers, it is hard to verify that it is stickered and not the original number. But this aircraft has been here since November 14, when it was flown from the Southern Highway, and it has been here at the BDF Airwing."

Jim McFadzean
"Are you saying that these letters that are on the tail-wing can be changed like a license plate on a car?"

Lieutenant Colonel James Requena
"Yes, definitely, the tail letters can be changed. All you need to do is find a legally registered one, take a photograph of it, and you make your own stickers, and stick them on. When the plane is flying, from afar, the numbers look alike. All you have to be careful with is that you don't land at an authorized airstrip, and another aircraft is there, or has been to landing site, because they will know for sure that you are flying an aircraft that is not duly registered."

Jim McFadzean
"How do Civil Aviation Authorities verify the legal registration for these aircrafts."

Lieutenant Colonel James Requena
"Well, from my understanding, Civil Aviation is associated/affiliated with the International Aviation Association. And they keep track of all aircraft, from the manufacture, to whom they are sold, to the final destination. So any aircraft that is made has a paper trail, or an electronic trail, in these days that can be followed."

Jim McFadzean
"And have we determined here in Belize, the origin of this plane, the proper authorized registration paper trail, so to speak, that we have in our possession."

Lieutenant Colonel James Requena
"At present, we haven't fully verified the exact ownership, but from the model and the company, we know when it was manufactured and everything."

Jim McFadzean
"At the least right now, you can that the plane that the Venezuelan Authorities are saying is in Venezuela is physically here in Belize."

Lieutenant Colonel James Requena
"Most definitely, the aircraft that we have here is the aircraft that we brought in on the 14th from the Southern Highway, and the aircraft that they have - I'm not sure which aircraft they are presenting to their people and to the international community."

Requena says the BDF hopes to eventually take ownership of the aircraft which they plan to use in some cases for Troop Deployment and VIP transport.

Channel 7

Drug Case To Court Two Years Later

On November of 2010, it made all the headlines when a drug plane landed on the Southern Highway in the Bladden Area. The story became more sensational when 5 lawmen were accused of facilitating its landing.

Those 5 men are Customs Officer Harold Usher, Police Corporal Renel Grant, Police Corporal Lawrence Humes, Police Corporal Nelson Middleton and Police Sergeant Jacinto Roches. They were all criminally charged with the importation of a controlled drug by facilitating the landing of an airplane.

Well, exactly 2 years after the aircraft landed in Belize, these men are finally facing a criminal trial in the Supreme Court. On Monday, the jury for the case was empanelled, and yesterday, the crown counsels representing the DPP's office started calling witnesses from their extensive list of to give testimony against the men.

So, today was day 2 of the biggest drug case in recent history in which the police made a bust of almost three thousand kilos of cocaine, which came in on the very same plane that these officers are accused of being connected to.

The judge sitting on the case is Justice Dennis Hannomansingh, and it is expected to continue to the end of November.

Channel 7

VIP transport,absolutely outrageous. GOB has VIP transport. It's called Tropic Air. The cost of operation and scheduled maintenance for such an aircraft is very expense(low to mid six figures annually depending on usage,engine times,etc). With high time engines and in below average condition this aircraft can be sold for 7 figures. Here's a novel idea. Sell the airplane and create a fund with the profits from drug seizures(assets, not the drugs. I felt this had to be mentioned). Use the fund to pay for equipment,training,the long discussed DNA facility,additional resources for the Island(after all, it is the Golden Goose). Given the current state of affairs the very thought of keeping the airplane for such use, any use, is offensive...

Lawmen "Not Guilty" Of Landing Drug Plane

Two years and a few weeks after they were accused of landing an airplane with one of the biggest drug cargoes ever seen in Belize, tonight five lawmen and a civilian are clear of that charge and are at home - their first time out of jail since late 2010. They are Corporal Renel Grant, Corporal Nelson Middleton, Sergeant Lawrence Humes, Customs Boatman Harold Usher, Sergeant Jacinto Roches, and civilian Victor Logan.

The incident is forever etched in Belize's history: In November of 2010, a twin Engine Beechcraft King Air 200 landed and offloaded thousands of pounds of compressed cocaine in the Bladden area of the Southern Highway.

In the month-long trial before Justice Denis Hanomansingh, an extensive list of witnesses was called, and there was a team of 3 crown counsels prosecuting the case: Cecil Ramirez, Leroy Banner, and Kayshia Grant.

After the crown closed their case, the attorneys for the defense, Simeon Sampson, Dickey Bradley and Kevin Arthurs chose to forego having their clients offer any defense. They all made no-case submissions before Justice Hanomansingh, who after considering the evidence for 3 days, directed the jury to acquit all 6 of the men on the basis of lack of evidence.

7News was there when the men left the court, and we found out more about the case:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
It was all celebration and rejoicing outside the Dangriga Supreme Court after the 6 lawmen were acquitted in the biggest drug case Belize's history.

Their exuberance is understandable; their lives and careers have been tarnished by this accusation, and an acquittal is no guarantee that they've been exonerated in the court of public opinion.

But suspicion aside, their attorneys say that the crown tried them on weak circumstantial evidence which couldn't stand up in court:

Kevin Arthurs - Attorney for the Defence
"One attorney characterized the case as the biggest case of speculation in Belize's history. It is not a light matter, obviously, because you're talking about 168 million dollars in street value, based on the assessment of Mr. Hemsley. But what is absolutely true, and it has been almost accepted by the prosecution in the way they conducted this trial, that they knew that there was not any and sufficient evidence in this case."

Attorney Dickey Bradley outlined of case and actual facts.

Dickey Bradley - Attorney for the Defense
"On the 13th day of November, 2010, 5 persons were travelling in a white van on the Southern Highway after midnight, and they were stopped at a BDF roadblock. And the rest is history, as they would say. An empty plane was found on the Southern Highway, the investigation started immediately after neighbors started hearing a plane. They called the police. Except for Mr. Logan, 5 of these accused persons were in a van. The van was never seen stopping on the Highway. Nobody was seen getting out - anything of that nature. In any event, these persons were charged with abetment to facilitate a plane which brought in over 2000 kilograms of compressed cocaine - and I'll come back to the brought in part - that they merely assisted to make that plane land. That is the allegation; that is the charge. They are not charged with drug trafficking or any other offence in relation to the plane."

The defense did concede that the prosecution and the police worked hard on this case.

Dickey Bradley
"The police had 56 witnesses, of which 35 were listed on the indictment. 2 additional witnesses were called. 2 or 3 - we saw some others here, but they weren't actually called. The judge said that according to his count, it was 30 or 31 witnesses who actually testified."

Good investigation aside, it really didn't matter because crucial evidence linking the men to the crime was inherently missing.

Dickey Bradley
"At the end of the prosecution's case, no witness - or the sum total of the witnesses - had made any link, any connection, had not been able to establish that any of these men, either collectively or individually, had actually done anything in relation to the facilitating the landing of that plane. You can't come to court with speculation. You can't come to court and say, 'Oh, they are police officers, and 3 or 4 of them are in one van, so they must be up to something. You can't convict people on that in this country. We still have some very important legal and constitutional principles."

Kevin Arthurs
"I think that there was no surprise today - and I've been hearing from my client - I don't think that the prosecution was surprised. They knew, and in all good faith they will say so, that in fact, they didn't quite come up to proof in this matter."

And throughout the ordeal, the defendants never underestimated the gravity of the charge.

Dickey Bradley
"40 bales of cocaine was found quite a distance from where the plane was on the highway. An additional 40 bales were found. Both of these were found in Pine Ridge areas covered with coohoon leaves. We saw photographs of the cocaine. What was also brought to court, were - I think - 2 batteries or 4 batteries, because batteries were on the highway which gave current to lights, I guess as some kind of impromptu runway."

The men had a plausible explanation to explain as to why they were on the highway at that time.

Dickey Bradley
"One of the defendants had made arrangements with a lady because they were going to a wedding in Punta Gorda, and this was being arranged from ahead long before any plane coming or anything like that. So, although in terms of finding an empty plane, and finding a lot of cocaine a mile or 2 away being evidence of something, it is not evidence that the accused persons did anything to land any plane. These men were stopped at the BDF roadblock by Lieutenant Rehelio Ramirez, and he was in conversation with Officer Hemsley, the Commander of ADU. But while these men were being held, the plane was in the air."

And while no one can complain about the thorough nature of the investigation, the defendants claim that evidence tampering was also factor that they had to overcome.

Dickey Bradley
"I've been instructed by the police officers just now to say this because they are hurt over this matter. Their family is here, and they are hurt. And they evidence is that they took Harold Usher to his house in Corozal, and they found certain items, a green and yellow police belt, which is peculiar to the police ranks, a military webbing, which is something that you carry to put your pouch, water, or other things in, and a military bag at his house in Corozal, and then, witnesses are coming to this court to say that it was found in the white van, where they were. That is unfair, but even if that was so. Even, let's say, we jumped over that - and people feel hurt when they see that there's tampering with evidence - had we gone to the jury, we would have made a big issue over these matters. But, even if there was a yellow belt in the van, how does that help me bring in a plane in the country?"

And with all of that, these men are still not fully vindicated. As a result, no decisions have been made about the way forward.

Dickey Bradley
"They are not totally out of it yet because one - there are some strange things which has happened. But one piece of evidence - well, let me back up and tell you. On the following day, November 14, 2010, early in the morning, a police officer said that he climbed into the white van, looked around and found one round of ammunition, a 5.56 round of ammunition. He was very clear; we asked him over and over. Later on, another police say they were searching and they found a 0.223 round of ammunition. And still further down, some days thereafter, when the forensic people were going through the van, they found a 0.223 round of ammunition. I don't know how we got to 3 rounds of ammunition, but on November 14, 2010, the persons in the van were charged for being in possession of that one round of ammunition. So, that case is still pending before the Magistrate's Court. And then, being serving officers, the issue of being on interdiction, the proper procedure is that they are suspended from duty pending the outcome of this case."

And if you're only now hearing of Victor Logan, a civilian, who police were trying to link to the other 5 lawmen in the facilitation of the landing of the drug plane, we are too... Apparently, he was charged separately from the other 5 officers on January 7, 2011.

Victor Logan's name was initially called early on in the investigation of this matter, but he did not make himself available to police. His attorney, Kevin Arthurs, was able to get evidence admitted in court, which proved that he was not in the country when the bust was made. With that, the court was satisfied that he was not implicated in this crime either.

7News contacted the DPP, Cheryl Lynn Vidal, who told us this evening that the lead crown counsel in the matter, Cecil Ramirez, has already filed an appeal of the judge's decision.

Channel 7

Belize Biggest Drug Case Falls Apart

Belize’s biggest drug case involving the landing of an aircraft on the Southern Highway has ended with the defendants freed of the major charges.  The judge’s decision was handed down this morning in the southern session of the Supreme Court in Dangriga town.  Correspondent Harry Arzu was at the courthouse and spoke with defence attorney Dickie Bradley. 

HARRY ARZU

In the case against Sgt. Jacinto Roches, Sgt. Renell Grant, Sgt. Lawrence Humes, Cpl. Nelson Middleton, Customs Officer, Harold Usher and Victor Logan of Independence Village ended today in the southern session of the Supreme Court in Dangriga.  The said persons were charged for facilitating the importation of over eighty bails of cocaine including seventy loose packages.  The incident occurred on November 13, 2010 on the Southern Highway between miles 56 and 57 in the Bladen Area where a plane landed.  It was reported that Roches, Grant, Humes, Nelson, Middleton, Usher and Logan assisted in facilitating the process of landing the plane on the highway.  Their case started on Wednesday, November 14 and more than 30 witnesses were called on the prosecution side before it closed its case.  Leading the prosecution team was Senior Counsel, Cecil Ramirez.  At the close of the prosecution case, attorneys for the defendants namely, Senior Counsel, Simeon Sampson, Dickie Bradley and Kevin Arthurs made a no-case submission which was upheld by the Trial Judge, Dennis Hanomonsingh who ruled that the defendants have no case to answer.

DICKIE BRADLEY

“What transpired is that the prosecution closed their case on Friday, November 30 and because the plane was found empty on the Southern Highway and Assistant Superintendent Robert Mariano from the then formation in PG was one of the main witnesses who gave a clear description where various things were found including the eighty bails that you mentioned which was found in two bundles; forty bails in one spot and the other forty in another spot.  However, the evidence that was presented in court could not be linked to any of the accused persons.  So while the cocaine was found it was a very difficult case to even say whether that plane came in to take the cocaine somewhere else or had brought in the cocaine because we observed from the photographs of the large quantity of cocaine which was valued at one hundred and sixty eight million dollars; it was 2,637 kilos of cocaine – over two tons of cocaine.    The evidence could not be linked to any of the defendants; nobody had seen them around the plane, around the cocaine, there was no fingerprint, there was no kind of evidence to make any linkage; all that could be said coming from Cpl Morales and Special Constables Kenneth Martinez and Mr. Vellez is that they had seen a white van on the road but there was no linkages that could have been established.  Nobody had seen the van stopped, nobody had seen the men come out; none of the items that were in the van, a couple of clothing could have been linked to anything in regards to the matter.  So, I agree with what you reported that the judge, that after adjourning on Friday after hearing both submissions, this morning said that the law is that where a person has been charged with a criminal offense and where there is no evidence, the court has an obligation to bring the case to a close and discharge the men of the allegation against them.  We must remember, that although this is Belize’s biggest drug case, the fact is that at the time that the officers were able to reach the spot on the Southern Highway, the plane was empty and there was no one in sight or nothing could be found that could directly linked to anybody.  In fact there was a delivery truck, as officer Mariano explained to the Court, he saw a white delivery truck with many 30-gallons – some empty, some have in liquid; but who was driving that truck?  Who was moving those items? There was also a green van that the Police in PG took into custody, there was also a grey and turquoise vehicle but who were in those vehicles?  Those are the people who were presumably helping to land the plane.”

Although the defendants were freed of the major charged relating to the important of the drugs and facilitating the landing of the aircraft on the Southern Highway, they are still facing possession of ammunition charges, alleged to have been found in a white van that was stopped and searched in the area at the time of the discovery. 

LOVEFM

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Cops accused in drug plane landing acquitted

Back in November of 2010 Police made the biggest drug seizure ever recorded in Belize. Authorities had been alerted to a plane landing on the Southern Highway, by an officer attached to the village of Bella Vista very near to where the plane touched down. The bust amounted to a whopping 2,604 kilos of cocaine; that's translates to 5704 pounds. The cocaine at the time had an estimated street value of $46 million US dollars. It was subsequently destroyed by the Police Department in a process involving the presence of the media and high level officials. Several senior police officers who were alleged to be involved in the transshipment of the drugs were detained. Four of the five police officers were arrested and charged with the importation of a controlled drug by facilitating the landing of an airplane. The customs officer was also charged for possession of ammunition. They were: Sergeant Jacinto Roches attached to the Internal Affairs Desk at the time, Harold Usher, a Boatman at the Customs Department, Corporal Nelson Middleton and Corporal Renel Grant - both of whom had been drivers for the Governor General and Sergeant Lawrence Humes. Corporal Vidal Cajun was also arrested and charged for possession of firearm and ammunition. The men back in July of 2011 were released on bail of fifty thousand dollars apiece. The case was before the Supreme Court and after going through the process, a verdict was handed down this morning by Judge Hanamasingh in the Southern District session of the Supreme Court. Dangriga Correspondent Harry Arzu reported on the outcome of the case which concluded late this morning.

Dangriga Correspondent HARRY ARZU:
Four Police Officers, a Customs Officer, a resident of independence Village, walked out of the Supreme Court today as free men. Sergeant Jacinto Roches, Sergeant Renel Grant, Sergeant Lawrence Humes, Corporal Nelson Middleton, Customs Officer Harold Usher, and Victor Logan  were jointly charged with purposely taking the importation of over 80 bales of cocaine, including 17 loose packages, in December of 2010.  This was in connection with an incident that occurred on November 30th,  2010, where a plane landed on the Southern Highway, between Miles 56 and 57, in the Bladen area, said to be loaded with cocaine. It was reported that Grant, Humes, Roaches, Middleton, Usher, and Logan assisted in  facilitating the process of landing the plane on the highway. The case that got underway on Wednesday, November 14th., called over 30 witnesses to support the prosecution side, before it closed up the case. Senior Council Cecil Renunez was the leader of the prosecution team of three.  Conversely at the close of the prosecution case, attorneys for the defendants, namely Senior Council Simeon Sampson, Dicky Bradly, and Kevin Arthurs, made a no case submission, which was upheld by the Trial Judge Denis Hanomansingh, who ruled that the defendants had no case to answer.  The men went honed relieved, happy despite the minor charge that they are yet facing.
 
Lead attorney for the defendants, Richard 'Dickie' Bradley, today laid the case file open, explaining that the prosecution was unable to place the men at the scene of the crime and noted that no evidence was produced to implicate their involvement. 

DICKY BRADLEY:
The evidence that was presented in court could not be linked to any of the accused persons. So while the cocaine was found it was a very difficult case to even say whether that plane came in to take the cocaine somewhere else or granting the cocaine.  Because we observed from the photographs of the large quantity of cocaine, which is valued at 168 million dollars, 2,637 kilograms of cocaine, over two tons of cocaine. The candidates could not be linked to any of the defendants. There was nothing to link them. Nobody had seen them around the plane, tound the cocaine.  There was no fingerprint. There was no kind of evidence to make any linkage

Bradley further highlighted the circumstances surrounding the bust and possible individuals who were directly linked to the committal of the crime.

DICKY BRADLEY:
The fact is that at the time the Officers were able to reach the spot on the Southern Highway, the plane was empty and there was no-one in sight, or nothing could be found that could be directly linked with anybody. In fact there was a delivery truck.  Officer Mariano explained to the court, he saw a white delivery truck with many thirty gallons, some empty, some having liquid. But who was driving the truck?  Who was moving those items? There was a green van as well that the Police in PG took into custody.  There was also. I think, he mentioned a grey and turquoise vehicle.  But who in those vehicles, who were the people who were helping to land the plane. 

The argument posed by the defense team was convincing enough and so today Harold Usher, Renel Grant, Lawrence Humes, Nelson Middleton and Jacinto Roches were acquitted of the charges and walked out of court free men.

PlusTV

DPP Wants Drug Plane Lawmen Re-Tried

In December of 2012, Justice Denis Hanomansingh acquitted the 5 lawmen who were accused of landing a drug plane on the Southern Highway. Now, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Cheryl-Lynn Vidal, is seeking to appeal that acquittal; she wants them re-tried.

The plane was loaded with almost three thousand kilos of cocaine - but got stuck on the highway when one of its wings got damaged during the improvised landing.

The twin Engine Beechcraft King Air 200 landed in the Bladden area of the Southern Highway. 5 lawmen Police Corporal Renel Grant, Corporal Nelson Middleton, Sergeant Lawrence Humes, Customs Boatman Harold Usher, Sergeant Jacinto Roches, and civilian Victor Logan were all charged of abetment to commit a crime. The accusation was that they facilitated the landing of the plane.

But after they were put on trial, all 6 men were acquitted when Justice Hanonmansingh ordered the jury to find them not guilty. That's after their attorneys made submissions that the men had no case to answer because they were not implicated based on the evidence put forward.

At this afternoon's session of the Court of Appeal, DPP Vidal made her application for leave to appeal on the grounds that the trial judge erred in law when he found that the circumstantial evidence presented by the Crown was not enough to prove their case against the accused. She offered an additional ground that the judge conducted the trial so as to deprive the crown of putting all their evidence before the jury.

The 5 law men were represented by attorneys Hubert Elrington, Anthony Sylvestre, and Simeon Sampson. Sylvestre objected to the application for leave to appeal on grounds that the Director did not file her application within the required 21 days.

After careful consideration, President Justice Manuel Sosa overruled his objection and allowed DPP Vidal to be heard.

The hearing went all the way up until 5:15 this evening, and President Sosa announced that the Appeal Court will give the court's decision on Friday about whether or not they will hear the appeal.

Channel 7

Retrial ordered for alleged facilitators of drug plane landing in Toledo

The case of six men accused of aiding in the landing of an alleged drug plane on the Southern Highway in 2012 concluded in the Court of Appeal late this evening.

Police officers Corporal Renel Grant, Corporal Nelson Middleton, Sergeant Lawrence Humes, and Sergeant Jacinto Roches; former Customs boatman Harold Usher, and civilian Victor Logan, were accused of facilitating one of the largest cocaine busts on record in Belize.

A plane famously landed on the Southern Highway on November 13, 2010, and nearby police and BDF found 80 bales of suspected cocaine - about 29,000 kilos, with a street value of close to $170 million Belize dollars.

But after trial in 2012, Justice Denis Hanomansingh refused to send the case to the jury on charges of abetment to import a controlled drug, believing that the men had no case to answer.

The office of the Director of Public Prosecutions duly filed an appeal and it was heard in part on Wednesday.

The attorneys for the accused, Senior Counsels Hubert Elrington and Simeon Sampson and Anthony Sylvestre, urged on the court today in their replies to DPP Cheryl-Lynn Vidal that their clients faced no evidence that would have convinced a jury reasonably directed to consider them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The missteps of the prosecution, according to Elrington, were what led to the decision of Justice Denis Hanomansingh to free the men, saying they had no case to answer.

However, at the conclusion of the case the panel of Manuel Sosa, Samuel Awich and Dennis Morrison announced that it would treat the hearing as the hearing of the appeal after it granted the leave to appeal.

It allowed the appeal, set aside the verdict of acquittal and ordered a retrial before a Judge other than Justice Hanomansingh.

Senior Counsel Sampson told reporters afterward that they will just have to try again.

He told reporters that he was not disappointed over the ruling as the Court of Appeal carefully considered all the arguments, but he was careful to insist that his clients were and are not convicted and would get a second chance in the lower court.

Patrick Jones

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Lawmen Will Be Re-tried for Landing Drug Plane

And there was another big decision coming out of the Court of Appeal just about an hour and a half before news time.

As we told you on Tuesday, the Director of Public Prosecution made an application to the Court of Appeal. She's trying to get the 5 law men accused of facilitating the landing of the drug plane on the Southern Highway to be re-tried.

As we told you, the 5 lawmen Police Corporal Renel Grant, Corporal Nelson Middleton, Sergeant Lawrence Humes, Customs Boatman Harold Usher, Sergeant Jacinto Roches, and civilian Victor Logan were all charged of abetment to commit a crime. The accusation was that they facilitated the landing of the plane, which resulted in the biggest drug cargo on record to enter Belizean soil, 5,704 pound of compressed cocaine.

They were acquitted before Justice Denis Hanomansingh, but in the application on Tuesday, DPP Cheryl-Lynn Vidal asked the Court of Appeal to hear an appeal of that outcome on the grounds that the judge made errors when he found that the circumstantial evidence was not enough for a jury to convict the accused men. She additionally complained that the judge conducted the trial in a manner which deprived the prosecution the ability to put all its evidence before the court.

In response, Defence Attorneys Anthony Sylvester, Simeon Sampson, and Hubert Elrington all submitted to the court that Justice Hanomansingh used his discretion properly throughout the trial, and that his conduct as judge was adequate enough that the Appeal Court need not overturn his decision.

After hearing their arguments, the Court of Appeal decided that the application for an appeal hearing was granted. Additionally, instead of rehearing the case, and they treated the appeal as already completed. The most significant part of their ruling this evening is that the Court agreed with DPP Vidal, set aside their acquittal, and ordered that they must be re-tried on the charge of abetment to commit a crime. It's a significant loss for these 6 men, 5 of whom took significant hits to their law careers when they were accused of corrupt, criminal behaviour. We got a reaction from their attorneys this evening, and here's what they told us:

Simeon Sampson, Co-counsel for Defendants


"It's not the end of the day, justice has been done, we fought like hell. The law had been expounded, all attorneys for the prosecution and the defense did what we had to do. All of us are wiser now especially when the Court of Appeal would have handed down a decision because right now we don't know what they accept or what they didn't accept and what is the reason for their decision. When we have received the written decision then we would be able to educate ourselves thereby. But I am not at all disappointed."

Hubert Elrington, attorney

"I am kind of disappointed, but we still hope that at the re-trial, we hope to get an acquittal."

Daniel Ortiz

"Can you explain briefly for us what you were trying to present to the court in response...?"

Hubert Elrington, attorney


"I am kind of what you called constitutionalist where law is concern. I believe that the rights of the citizen should be very clearly defined and I believe that if the prosecution says it has evidence, the evidence must not be so thin that you can convict a man and almost any evidence because the question was whether or not the presence of these people and the vehicle, the vehicle in which they were in on the highway could support the inference that they were somehow or the other involved in assisting a drug plane to land. There has been no direct evidence and the court seems to be saying that those two sets of evidence are sufficient to leave to a jury - let the jury decide. But in my view there should be more than that. There has to be some link which something, come drug on their person or somebody saw them or something else. It just can't be that. Two sets of facts are there and you are allowed ti infer from one that the people were involve in the other, so I have to abide by and accept the decision, but I am not persuaded that that is where our law is supposed to be. I think our law really needs to be strengthen when it comes to the rights of the citizen."

The re-trial is take place before a judge other than Justice Denis Hanomansingh.

Channel 7