Immigration officers freed of importing U.S. currency

An immigration officer at the P.G.I.A. and a businessman who were accused of importing eleven thousand five hundred U.S. dollars into Belize were found not guilty of the charge today. The case stems from a sting operation at the Phillip Goldson International Airport back on May thirty-first, 2008. It was alleged that during a police sting operation businessman Jose Aldana came off a flight, and placed a package on Maria Guerra’s workstation. Guerra, an immigration officer was detained as she picked up the package that purportedly contained the money.
The court, Magistrate E.P. Usher did not allow into evidence four envelopes containing the money because there was no chain of custody or receipt, not to mention that several persons handled the money after custom officer Francis Alfaro took possession of it. Alfaro also testified he did not record the serial numbers on the money and he did not fill out a custody form or issue a custody receipt to the accused persons.
Magistrate Usher ruled that it wasn’t possible to determine that the cash found by Alfaro was the same money counted after the operation. Attorney Michael Peyrefitte and Carlo Mason who represented Aldana and Guerra submitted that their clients be found not guilty and Magistrate Usher concurred. Mason said a resident of the United States, Allan Benton, is the owner of the money and he asked Magistrate User to give Benton time to come to Belize and prove that he owns the money.