Two women went to court today after they were caught illegally crossing the border in the August Pine Ridge area of Orange Walk.
Officers from the Mobile Interdiction Team were conducting an operation at an illegal landing site in the vicinity of the rice field behind the village when they saw a large canoe entering a channel.
What caught their attention was that the canoe was loaded with goods. The persons inside the canoe were unloading the goods when the officers identified themselves.
The smugglers ran in different directions, but the officers managed to capture and detain 44-year-old Dina Sanchez and 23-year-old Jennifer Garrido, both of Guinea Grass Village.
When the officers examined the contents of the canoe, they found an assortment of vegetables and other food items, sodas, alcoholic beverages, clothing and other household products. The officers also found an abandoned blue pickup truck. The truck, the items, the 16 foot canoe, and the two detainees were all taken to the Orange Walk Customs House pending charges.
Reports tell us that San Victor, another smuggling hotspot is teeming with contraband activity right now.
