Belize High Court dismisses charges against police officers in 2010 drug plane case

Belize: The High Court of Belize has ordered the release of four police officers and two other men who were charged in regard to a very large drug plane incident which took place in November 2010. The court determined that the prolonged delay in bringing the case to trial was a violation of the constitutional rights of the accused.

The men - former police officers Jacinto Roches and Renel Grant, sergeants Lawrence Humes and Nelson Middleton, Customs boatman Harold Usher, and civilian Victor Logan - had been accused of being involved in the importation of over two tons of cocaine. The investigations started after the police intercepted a suspicious aircraft on the Southern Highway in southern Belize.

Charges imposed and legal delays which followed

All six of them were charged with “abetment in the importation of cocaine.” These charges came after law enforcement intercepted a drug plane 13 years ago in one of the most high-profile drug busts in Belizean history. However, the legal process which followed was dragged for almost 15 years without reaching trial.

In a 61-page decision, Justice Derrick Sylvestre determined that the delay was unjustifiable and violated the accused men’s right to a quick fair trial. He said that the accused had to go through great hardship during the long wait for justice. The indictments against them were in fact officially filed in 2016.

“It is an unassailable fact that the Claimants’ right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time guaranteed under the Constitution of Belize has been breached,” noted Sylvestre. The judgment which followed was that all criminal charges be forever dropped which means that these men will no longer be put on trial for the said crime.

So far, the Belize Police Department and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions have not released any official statement. This ruling has brought an end to one of Belize's longest running and most controversial legal cases.