Belmopan Resident Out on Bail After Allegedly Assisting Immigrants into Belize

A Belmopan resident is out on bail after allegedly being caught helping 10 Ecuadoran and Salvadoran immigrants into Belize. 37-year-old Saul Alexander Blanco appeared before a Senior Magistrate in the presence of his attorney John Nembhard where he was charged with one count of facilitating the commission of an offense. Yesterday, at approximately 3:45 pm, the Belize City immigration intercepted a white Toyota 4-Runner vehicle in Sandhill where Blanco was allegedly seen running out of the driver’s side of the vehicle. Inside the vehicle were 10 immigrants namely Lilian Zhingri, Jamalia Duque, Carlos Benitez, Jose Mauricio, Elvin Montes, Jose Chavez, Maria Zuniga, and Jose Gonzalez along with two minors. Yesterday, the eight adults appeared before a Magistrate in Court where they all pleaded guilty to illegal entry. In Court today, Blanco pleaded guilty and threw himself to the mercy of the court saying quote “I am sorry your honor, for my mistake I committed, I would like the court to be lenient on me” unquote. Initially, Blanco was fined $1,000 for each immigrant plus 10 $5.00 costs of court fine for each person, which amounted to $10,050 Attorney John Nembhard referred to Section 151 of the indictable procedure Act and argued that his client was charged with committing only one act of facilitating since the charge arises from one circumstance. The Senior Magistrate agreed, and Blanco’s fine was deducted to $1,005 which he must pay by October 31 in default to 6 months imprisonment. The immigration prosecutor told the court that the Immigration department is seeking forfeiture for the vehicle in question since the vehicle was a rental. The forfeiting application is set to be heard in May 21.