Police have charged two of their own for human trafficking. Constables Allison Mushler and Lawrence Flowers were arraigned in court today on a slew of charges related to the smuggling of 8 immigrants from Central America. It is a minor arrest but a major blow to the Police Department and this morning the senior command made the best of a bad situation by making examples of rogue activities.
Keith Swift Reporting,
Constable #446 Allison Mushler and Constable #781 Lawrence Flowers are the officers who police say were part of a human smuggling ring. The people you see here are the human cargo that constables Muslar and Flowers were allegedly transporting when they were busted at 2 am on Saturday at a checkpoint on the Northern Highway.
Gerald Westby, Commissioner of Police
"At 2 o'clock in the morning they intercepted a Camry car driven by Police Constable #781 Lawrence Flowers and shortly after a Mazda van driven by PC #446 Allison Mushler. Clearly the car was the lead scout vehicle and the van in the rear had in eight passengers."
Police say there were 6 Salvadorans and 2 Hondurans - three of them were minors - one only 14 years old. They illegally entered the country on Friday through the western border and were on their way to the northern border. Police say none of them had travel documents.
The eight people involved are considered victims and they are now in custody of the Human Development Department. That is of course even though most of them paid the smugglers to transport them.
Ava Pennill, Human Development Department
"Under the Trafficking in Persons Act, they are seen as victims. So they are not, they have not violated as such any law. They are victims and they will be witnesses in the police's case. So we have currently have the right persons, we are working together with police, but the eight persons will be offered protection and all the necessary support services as stated in the law. They are comfortable now and I think the level of trust with them is quite high."
And though they entered illegally - immigration officer Horace Guzman says that they will be able to stay in Belize until the case goes to trial.
Horace Guzman, Immigration Department
"The Trafficking in Persons Act provides for us to give them travel documents and for them to remain here for the duration of that trial."
Investigators say they are paying extra attention to Allison Mushler who is a 5-year veteran with the department. He has been attached to the Special Branch for a number of those years and his name surfaced last week when Mark Sewell was arrested.
Gerald Westby,
"PC Mushler, I must say, that when we apprehended Mark Sewell only recently,
his name came up and some documents found with Mushler as one of his colluders or working along with Mushler so he was being monitored. We found documents and it would appear that he had some collusion with Mark Sewell. I would not want to go into the details and so we were monitoring him. He is from Special Branch and we were monitoring him."
And though only Mushler and Flowers have been charged, Commissioner of Police Gerald Westby says more of his officers are involved as well immigration officers.
Gerald Westby,
"We suspect that some police men at these checkpoints are colluding with these traffickers because they need to pass these check points and who knows if there will not be additional charges."
Westby concedes the human trafficking is big business and the human cargo might have actually paid to be trafficked.
Gerald Westby,
"The illegal trafficking and human trafficking is a major business with (people) coming from Central America through Belize and on to Mexico and on to the United States. We understand from intelligence that it costs a minimum of a $1,500 for a person to be moved. They are coming from the west up to the north and then on to Mexico."
And so even as the Department took down two of its own - even the COMPOL concedes that this is a minor victory, but it comes at a major cost to the integrity of the department.
This evening Allison Mushler was arraigned in court for 8 counts of human trafficking, one count of purportedly aiding and abetting of human smuggling, and 8 counts of prejudice to good order and discipline. Lawrence Flowers meanwhile was arraigned for assisting Mushler in the transporting of human traffickers and two counts of prejudice to good order and discipline. Both men pleaded not guilty.
Mushler is defended by Michael Peyrefitte and Flowers by Linsbert Willis. The prosecution objected to bail, claiming that if Mushler and Flowers were released on bail, they would be in a position to obstruct the investigation. The prosecutor also promised that the case could go to trial in as little as 7 days. Still, Chief Magistrate Margaret McKenzie granted bail of ten thousand dollars to Mushler and seven thousand dollars for Flowers. They both are due back in court on March 30th.
