They told police they are hunters but police say 25 year old Juan Cuz and 26 year old Andrew Swan are more like pirates - who have been terrorizing the seas off of San Pedro. A Coast Guard patrol busted the pair with a loaded AK47 and a loaded.45 pistol yesterday at Ricky Point which is about 10 miles north of San Pedro. Both guns are prohibited and this afternoon the men were arraigned in court on two counts each of possession of a prohibited firearm, prohibited ammunition, and one count of possession of controlled drugs - for 38 grams of marijuana also found on the boat. The Coast Guard's Lieutenant Commander Johnny Borland told us how the arrest went down.
Lt. Com. Johnny Borland, Belize National Coast Guard
"This was really a snap or surprise operation where we caught them completely off guard. In fact they did not even put up a fight or even resist. The team that went in there were covert, did a close target reconnaissance, launched the operation without them even being aware of what happened. They had no resistance absolutely.
Both of them claimed they had these firearms and they used them for hunting and of course we knew differently as we had many reports of these people operating often times in hostile mode in that area intimidating the locals and the fishermen and being involved in other illegal activities...such as robbery, such as narcotics, involvement and trade and that kind of activity."
And again, Senior Superintendent Chester Williams was the prosecutor at the arraignment. He objected to bail and Chief Magistrate Margaret McKenzie remanded both to the Hattieville Prison until February 7th. We should note that though police suspect the two young men may have been committing illegal activities - they haven't been charged for any violent crime. At their arraignment this afternoon, both men were adamant about their innocence.
