Human smuggling ring busted in Corozal

There were persistent rumours of large numbers of Spanish speaking strangers hanging around a quiet Corozal neighborhood. And after several days of surveillance, on Monday police made their move on an abandoned house in Santa Rita. What they found was twenty-eight Salvadorans, all of whom had entered Belize illegally and appeared to be awaiting transport through Mexico en route to the United States. A search of the house also turned up sixty-one passports and four Salvadoran identity cards, a pretty good indicator that this may have only been the tip of the alien iceberg. After arresting the twenty-eight, police then followed a black Mazda pickup, which had been seen bringing provisions to the house. Upon reaching Paraiso village, the three occupants of the truck ran into a house with police in hot pursuit. One managed to escape, but a Belizean, Rudulfo Rivero, was arrested and another Salvadoran, Prospero Cardozo, was also caught. Rivero was holding over eight thousand Belize dollars in cash while Cardozo had a roll of fifty thousand dollars U.S. On Tuesday police continued their investigations and rounded up eighteen more undocumented Salvadorans, including one Maria Portillo who was found with twenty thousand dollars U.S. in cash. The bulk of the group will be taken to Benque Viejo for trial as that is where it is believed they illegally entered the country. Rivero and Cardozo were charged in Corozal, however, for aiding and abetting and harboring the illegal immigrants. Cardozo pleaded guilty and was fined a total of six thousand dollars. He also faces charges for customs violations. Rivero, the only Belizean arrested, pleaded not guilty and was released on bail of one thousand dollars plus a surety of the same amount.