Chunox Family Arraigned for Undersized Conch

Jaime Rangel

But a Belizean family caught with undersized conch was heavily fined. This afternoon, four members of the Rangel family, all fishermen living in Chunox Corozal Village, were arraigned in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court for possession of undersized conch.  At the end of their arraignment, the three brothers and their brother-in law were ordered to pay a whopping fine of just under twenty thousand dollars to be paid by November fifteen, 2015.  The first to be arraigned was Jaime Rangel, who was found in possession of one hundred and forty-six processed conch fillets. The second brother, Leandro Rangel, was found in possession of one hundred and ninety-five undersized conch while Mike Lin Rangel who was found in possession of ninety-eight undersized conch. Their brother-in-law, Isidro Patt, was in possession with the largest amount of undersized conch, a total of two hundred and sixty-five.  Magistrate Ladonna John, who heard the matter, imposed a fine of five hundred dollars on each men for the offense they committed. She additionally fined them twenty five dollars for each conch. In total the family had to pay almost twenty thousand dollars. The bust was made by Fisheries Officer, Rodney Castillo on May seventh, 2015, at the Northern Fishermen Cooperative when the men were making a delivery of the seafood.