4 Busted with Illegally Cut Mahogany Logs

An illegal logging operation in northern Belize District has resulted in the arrest of four men who were found with as many as thirty-two pieces of mahogany logs in an area off the old Northern Highway.  On Sunday afternoon, sometime around three-thirty, Orange Walk police came upon the individuals in a white Isuzu freighter.  The officers stopped and the vehicle, only to find the pieces of lumber.  The men were arrested and detained, their vehicle impounded and the matter was referred to the Forestry Department.  This evening, News Five spoke with Saul Cruz who is the investigator tasked with the case in Orange Walk.  He says that the names of the four loggers have been withheld until they are charged in the Orange Walk Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.  The value of the felled trees is undisclosed.