A large quantity of pills was found in a house in the lake independence area last night. They were initially suspected to be pseudo-ephedrine tablets but the news tonight is they are not. The Ministry of Health has confirmed that the 40 boxes contained pre-natal vitamin pills and are the property of the Ministry of Health. That alone raises questions....but our story begins last night when the home was raided. 7News was there and Keith Swift reports.
Keith SwiftReporting,
We were there last night as police officers were removing the boxes from inside the home of Herman Miranda on Partridge Street Extension. It resembled an assembly line as box after box was removed from the home and passed from officer to officer where they were stacked in the pans of police pickups.
All told it was 40 boxes which filled the pan of three police mobiles and took more than an hour to remove. The boxes were filled with perhaps thousands of
these small bottles of pills. The labelling says “Women’s Pre-natal Post.” We’re not sure what that is but the home’s owner Herman Miranda who lives in the house along with his wife and young child in addition to his brother Randall and his 5 kids says they are “pregnancy pills.”
Herman Miranda, Home Owner
“My brother is a broker and sometimes when they discharge the thing from Port Authority, the truck from government service takes a long time to come for it and this is how the pills ended up at my house. I know it is for pregnant woman, that is all I know about it right. I have nothing to hide.”
But why stash 40 boxes of pills in the home of a man who says he designs tombstones? Well Keisha Miranda says they were told the ministry of health had nowhere else to store the pills.
Keisha Miranda, Lives in Home
“I just that Ministry of Health came and they just leave it there
for storage and they leave it there.”
Keith Swift,
“What type of pills are these?”
Keisha Miranda,
“Pregnant people pills for people who are pregnant.”
Keith Swift,
“But why is there so many of it in your house?”
Keisha Miranda,
“Because my brother in law who is a broker right now, people just come and store the pills here and he keeps them there so that when they are ready they just come and pick it up and takes them back to Belmopan.”
Keith Swift,
“So you’re saying this is standard thing, you all always store these pills?”
Herman Miranda,
“No what happened is they come for it lil bit lil bit. It is not standard thing right. Sometimes when the truck cannot come from Belmopan they leave it here and then the other day they come and pick it up.”
Keith Swift,
“So you were living in the house with all the pills?”
Herman Miranda,
“Well I work at the cemetery from time to time yes but I know it is pregnant woman pills. My brother is a Custom’s broker.”
Keith Swift,
“How long have the pills been in your house?”
Herman Miranda,
“I can’t recall but my brother is a broker and he lives with me….I would say about a month they’ve been here.”
Both Miranda and his wife were detained last night but later released.
As we told you an official from the Ministry of Health confirmed to us that the large quantity of pills is nothing more than pre-natal vitamins. They are normally given to expectant mothers. The Ministry of Health official told us that the pills are the property of the government and they have provided police with the necessary paper work.
But so why were 40 boxes containing thousands of pills stored at a private residence for two months? Well the Ministry of Health official we spoke to wouldn’t answer. She told us she was going into a meeting and ended the call. We also don’t know the value of the pills. We’ll continue following the story to find out why government property was being stored at a private residence.
