Orange Walk bar owner charged with human trafficking

While gun related charges are a common offence in Belize, human trafficking is not. But that’s exactly the accusation being levied against a Corozal bar owner tonight. According to cops in the north, on Friday they got a tip that drug dealing was taking place at the Mira Montes Bar, located at mile eighty-five on the Northern Highway. But while investigators came up empty-handed for narcotics, they did focus on another crime. As officers entered the bar, they met a fifteen year old Guatemalan girl working as a waitress. When she couldn’t produce the proper permits to be employed in Belize, however, she was taken into custody. The minor is now in the care of the Human Services Department who have been conducting interviews with the teenager and five other women who were working legally in the establishment. Their statements and subsequent investigations by police have resulted in the arrest of the bar’s owner, fifty year old Hilberto Triminus of Santa Elena Road. This morning Triminus appeared before Magistrate Leslie Hamilton where he was formally charged with one count of Trafficking in Persons. He is at home tonight, but that’s another story. In August, Triminus was charged with the Attempted Murder of a police officer and others. He was remanded to Hattieville Prison but later the Supreme Court granted him bail in the amount of ten thousand dollars. That case was adjourned to October thirtieth. In court today, Magistrate Hamilton decided to adjourn this case to that same date and accept the same bail already posted.