Mexican National Deported After Failing to Adhere to Employment Permit Provisions

Thirty-one-year-old Mexican national Javier Martinez was charged with an immigration offense yesterday, but was back in court today answering to another charge. ( Martinez appeared in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court charged with a single count of failing to adhere to the provisions of an employment permit. His attorney, Brian Neal, initially objected to the new charge on the grounds that his client had been detained for over a week without being charged but later withdrew his objection. Martinez pleaded guilty and was fined a thousand dollars which he was ordered to pay forthwith. The court also granted a removal order against him, and he was immediately deported back to Mexico. Police had originally detained Martinez on August 21 under suspicion of him and several others being sent by a drug cartel to conduct an assassination of a Belizean drug figure. Those charges never materialized, and he was instead charged on Monday with failing to present himself to an immigration officer, which he pleaded guilty to and was fined.