Kidnap charges dropped against soldiers

Tonight four of the men accused of the kidnapping of two Belize City residents over the weekend are out on bail. Contrary to what we reported last night, News 5 understands that P.C. Martin Castillo was charged with kidnapping but was offered and met bail of five thousand dollars. Two of his alleged accomplices: forty-one year old Wallington Russell and thirty-one year old Emerson Wade, were also charged with kidnapping and they too were offered and met bail of seven thousand dollars. In a surprising turn of events, two BDF soldiers who were initially implicated in the bizarre crime on Sunday are now out of hot water as on Wednesday afternoon, Director of Public Prosecutions Kirk Anderson asked that all charges against the soldiers be dropped. Since the story exploded into the headlines on Monday morning, the two members of the BDF maintained that they thought the detention and subsequent handing over to three civilians in a boat, of Belize City residents Galindo Pedro Perez and Juan Mendoza, was part of a legitimate police operation. It is believed that the soldiers will be called as key witnesses for the prosecution.