There was a major drug bust in Orange Walk on Wednesday night. Police are reporting that while on an anti-drug operation in the town, the unit intercepted a black Toyota Camry with Orange Walk license plates. When the driver and his passenger caught wind of the officers, they sped off towards Liberty Avenue. As it reached near the junction with the Phillip Goldson Highway, both occupants alighted the vehicle and began fleeing on foot. Here is where the story deviates. News Five has been reliably informed that several shots were fired in the area, reportedly by police around the same time that they men were apprehended. Police would not confirm this, but would only say that the men identified as forty-nine-year-old Belizean Ruperto Reyes, from Orange Walk and Cuban national, fifty-two-year-old Pascual Pineda of Boca Del Rio area in San Pedro, were apprehended by the officers. A subsequent search of the vehicle proved even more damning. A whopping one hundred and twenty point six pounds of crystal meth, with a street value of over two million U.S. dollars was found inside two containers in the trunk of the car. The drugs were stashed inside a red cooler and soup powder box in eighteen and twelve parcels, respectively. Deputy Officer Commanding Orange Walk police formation, Inspector Selvyn Tillett, explained.
Via Phone: Insp. Selvyn Tillett, Deputy O.C., Orange Walk Formation
Selvyn Tillett
“About seven-twenty p.m. on Wednesday, police were conducting an anti-drug operation in Orange Walk Town where they saw a suspicious black car traveling on a street in Orange Walk Tow. When the police vehicle approached them and identified themselves as police officers, the driver just sped away in the direction of Liberty Avenue where he lost control. The driver along with a passenger tried to escape on foot; police were able to catch them, bring them back to where the vehicle was where they saw a cartoon box containing what seems to be suspected meth. In a red cooler, there were more packages of suspected meth found. A total of thirty packs were weighed and totaled fifty-four point seven kilograms. Both persons are presently detained pending drug trafficking charges.”
Duane Moody
“Sir that is over a hundred pounds of suspected meth?”
Via Phone: Insp. Selvyn Tillett
“That’s right sir. Thirty packages…”
Duane Moody
“These people are known to police as drug peddlers?”
Via Phone: Insp. Selvyn Tillett
“Well one of them is from Orange Walk, Mister Ruperto Reyes of a Sittee River Street address and the other is a Cuban national Pascual Pineda, who has given addresses in both Belmopan and also Boca Del Rio area, San Pedro.”
Duane Moody
“These persons, have they been charged?”
Via Phone: Insp. Selvyn Tillett
“At the moment, they have been charged as yet; they should be charged anytime soon—either this evening or tomorrow morning. I cannot say whether it was supposed to go across [the border] or stay in Belize. I cannot comment on that. At this moment, we continue with the launch of our investigation into this situation. We have ADU personnel on board who are experts in this field and they were a part of this operation.”
Both Reyes and Pineda were arrested and charged with Drug Trafficking.
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