It's Belize's other beer, the one that wants to challenge Belikin for a foothold in the domestic beer market - but, tonight, the Orange Walk based Caribbean International Brewery Company Limited has taken a hit on its reputation. This is after police led a two-day multi agency raid of the factory in Carmelita village, where they bagged 3.1 million dollars in cash and detained 9 persons for possible immigration offenses.
The multi agency team included Police, Immigration labour and the Anti Trafficking in Persons team.
As a result, 9 men - mostly Chinese - were taken to court in Orange Walk town this evening with their attorney Marcel Cardona. They were charged for being in Belize without a permit. The Anti Trafficking in Persons unit is investigating to see if they were victims of human traffic.
And what about the 3.1 million dollars? Well, that's a lotta cash - and police have confiscated it to determine if the funds are legitimate proceeds of business.
Which is where the company's PR Representative comes in. He told us the search of the factory was purely malicious. He says the immigration charges are trumped up and that the owner will produce records to show that it is legal revenue - which he had stored in a safe.
As for the Chinese men - he says they all have legal status; 4 of them were trapped here since covid. He says they came as visitors when the equipment was installed at the factory and could not go back to China due to COVID travel restrictions. He says they have flights booked to return through Mexico on Friday, October 11th.
He says that police did not have a warrant to search for money, only for undocumented immigrants and that the company is reserving its rights and will sue the government for maliciously planned and executed search.
Caribbean International Brewery Company is the brewer of Pirate Beer, Mine Beer and a soft drink named My Cola as well as other beverages. They opened in 2021.
