A Hefty Bail is Granted to Four Drug Plane Cops
Police officers Nelson Middleton, Elmer Nah, Delwin Casimiro and George Ferguson have been granted Supreme Court bail in the sum of forty thousand dollars each. The four were arraigned on November eighth in connection with the landing of a drug plane on the Southern Highway near Bladen, as well as the seizure of twenty-three bales of cocaine. When D.P.P. Cheryl Lyn Vidal recused herself and her office from prosecuting the case, the matter was assigned to attorney Alifah Elrington. This morning, several lawyers, including Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley, appeared virtually before Justice Antoinette Moore. When the session concluded shortly before midday, the men were granted bail under strict conditions which include notifying the court should they change phone numbers during the course of the trial. Following the hearing, News Five’s Isani Cayetano sat with attorney Dickie Bradley. Here’s that story.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
What was initially put forward as perhaps an ironclad case against a quartet of rogue police officers and their civilian accomplices, appears to be coming apart at the seams rather quickly. This morning, bail was granted to all four lawmen under the condition that it is secured with land titles. Surely, there are other stipulations to make certain that they are not flight risks, however, the argument set forth by the prosecutor that the men were to be denied bail for up to nine months, while an investigation continues, was a nonstarter.
Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley, Attorney-at-law
Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley
“We know for a fact that a high-ranking police officer in charge of the Orange Walk Police Station was charged for being involved with a plane that was landed in Blue Creek. He was given bail. We know that there were several officers, I think ten people in a boat, you know, “rub a dub dub, ten men in a tub”, they were granted bail. Why do you want to single out these people and object to bail and say that they have no right to bail until after nine months? That is really stretching it.”
Attorney Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley represents the four officers, including Corporal Delwin Casimiro, who, up until November fourth, was assigned to Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryl-Lyn Vidal as her personal bodyguard.
Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley
“Of the four police officers, this morning the prosecutor informed the judge that she did not submit any documents to me for objection, like she did for the other three because they are not objecting to officer Casimiro. This is really, like in my humble opinion, abominable because a person is kept in jail longer than they ought to have been.”
Appearing before Justice Antoinette Moore on his clients’ behalf, the seasoned lawyer presented his case. When he was done with his submissions, a hefty bail was approved.
Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley
“She granted bail in a very high sum of forty thousand dollars for each of the accused persons. So even though there was no objection to bail for officer Casimiro, he is on the charge sheet and he is before the court where the Belmopan courts had not granted bail and so he too is also required to meet a forty thousand dollar bail with other conditions.”
The most interesting aspect in all that is presently before the court is perhaps the strength of the case that the prosecution is putting forward where Corporal Elmer Nah is concerned. He was subsequently charged along with ten others for drug possession with the purpose of supplying it to another person.
Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley
“Officer, Corporal Elmer Nah was stopped in the area of the Independence Police Station, I think on the highway, returning from Punta Gorda where there was a christening or an event, a family event for which there are dozens of witnesses, he was with his common-law wife and his common-law wife was along with her brother who is the other police officer that I was referring to. They were stopped, this is two days after the plane had landed and offloaded.”
Nah was arrested and detained on November sixth while driving along the Southern Highway. Traveling with him were three passengers, including his common-law wife, a toddler and his brother-in-law.
Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley
“The vehicle, they find a firearm, they find a bulletproof vest and they find a quantity, over a hundred rounds of .223 ammunition. He is charged for helping to land the plane. I don’t know how they arrived at that. There is nothing, nothing. He is landed, he is charged for conspiring with whomever to mek di plane land da wahn airport weh da noh wahn official airport and he is charged for all the cocaine weh dehn find eena di area, wherever dehn pick up thing, which is eight hundred and twenty-two kilograms of cocaine. You noh find no cocaine pan dis man, you don’t find any cocaine on nobody. You don’t see them unloading, offloading. You don’t find it in his vehicle. You don’t see him driving any of the vehicles that was said to have fled the scene and had a shootout. Yet, he is charged with all the offenses along with the others.”
Whether the charges brought against Corporal Elmer Nah will hold in a court of law is yet to be seen. On the surface, the case against him appears to be flimsy. When asked about the investigation on the day of the arraignment, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams seemed fairly confident that the charges were sufficient.
Chester Williams
[File: November 8th, 2021] Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“Yes, we have enough to charge now, but you know that the investigation is still ongoing. There are certain things that we need to do to strengthen the case. So we are going to wait for those. My perspective, as commissioner, I will do whatever needs to be done to ensure that all those who are responsible for this plane landing are held accountable.”
Isani Cayetano reporting for News Five.
Bail applications have similarly been made on behalf of seven other individuals charged in connection with the most recent drug plane landing. The men are to return to court in February 2022. Police are also now looking for Efrain Cano in connection with the drug plane landing.
