Illegal Mahogany Loggers Out on Bail

Earlier today, a group of four illegal loggers appeared in the Orange Walk Magistrate’s Court where each man was formally charged for unlawfully harvesting as many as thirty-two pieces of mahogany logs.  Catalino Copo, Nelson Mosa, Pablo Valladarez and Aurelio Mai were busted in the vicinity of the Old Northern Highway on Sunday afternoon.  The men were seen inside a white Isuzu freight truck bearing Orange Walk license plates.  During a search of the vehicle, individual pieces of logs were discovered in the rear.  At the arraignment the men were each granted bail of two thousand, five hundred dollars, plus one surety of the same amount.  They are set to reappear in court on Wednesday morning at eight o’clock.  The men, according to Forestry officials, were not known to have been operating illegally within the Belize District.