B.D.F. soldiers charged in drug deal
The foot path leading from Eastern Division police headquarters to Magistrate’s Court in Belize City has been well trod by generations of accused criminals ranging in status from chain snatchers to multiple murderers. This afternoon, however, the men making the pilgrimage were elite members of an institution that is supposed to be a model of government authority: the Belize Defence Force. Thirty four year old Major Reuel Black, the taller of the two men on the screen, and forty year old Staff Sergeant Marcus Kingston, were today arrested and marched to the Magistrate’s court to answer accusations that they provided security for an airborne drug delivery at a secret airstrip in Orange Walk. Police say the charges of conspiracy to use an airstrip and abetting the use of an airstrip without the written permission of the Chief Civil Aviation Officer are the result of an incident on February fourteenth, in which a twin engine aircraft made an illegal landing on a portion of road between San Juan and San Luis villages in the Orange Walk District. According to police, residents, including an off duty policeman, spotted the aircraft circling the area. An investigation led officers to a cane feeder road which was being rehabilitated by the Ministry of Works, where they found a bulldozer and grader that were used to make that portion of road more suitable for planes to land. On Saturday police arrested the owner of the equipment, fifty six year old Willard Jones of Carmelita Village. He has been charged with the construction of the airstrip and abetting in its use without the written permission of the Chief Civil Aviation Officer. According to police, as the investigation went on, it was revealed that both Major Black and Staff Sergeant Kingston personally provided security for the unauthorized landing. According to Officer Commanding the National C.I.B. in Belmopan, Gerald Westby, it is believed that the flight originated in Colombia and that it landed in Orange Walk, dropped of its cargo of cocaine, refueled and returned to its country of origin. Police say eyewitnesses report seeing the plane being unloaded. Whatever was taken off is believed destined for shipment by land or sea to the United States. Both Major Black and Staff Sergeant Kingston pleaded not guilty to the charges. They were offered and met bail of five thousand dollars each, plus one surety of the same amount. The case has been transferred to the Orange Walk magistrate’s court for trial and the accused are to reappear on May nineteenth.
