And it will be a while before those 16 pounds of weed are destroyed - because the case has to first work its way through court.
But, today, many kilos of drugs that have gone through that process end up at a secret location to be destroyed.
We covered one of those drug destruction events today and Jomarie Lanza reports.
A fiery furnace, a cordon of armed police, the foul odour of chemical drugs burning are the hallmarks of a drug destruction like the one we witnessed this morning at an undisclosed location.
Some of these drugs have been kept as Eastern Division exhibits for months if not years, and today the Belize Police Department successfully disposed of them by fire. It's the first drug destruction for the year and a meticulous task of monitoring for these officers and public servants who diligently witness and document the destruction of cannabis, cocaine, and methamphetamines.
Supt Hector Rodriguez, OC National Prosecution Branch
"So we have a planned drug destruction that is ongoing it is mainly drugs that were lost and found properties we have some of them that were as a result of cases that concluded in the courts these drugs have been in our custody for quite some time so we got approval from head quarters for the destruction of these drugs. We have over 250 kilos of cocaine that is presently being destroyed we have a similar amount when it comes to Cannabis we have approximately 200 packets of cannabis infused candies we have crystal meth and we have methamphetamines."
At present, the street value for cocaine stands at about $11,000 to $15,000 per kilo. But as for some of these other drugs the length of time that they have been kept in police custody causes their value to depreciate. Rodriguez says some of them cannot be destroyed until a case is closed, which is why they tend to accumulate over time.
Supt Hector Rodriguez, OC National Prosecution Branch
"The period extended for quite some time because some of it is related to drug cases that happened years ago and the case recently concluded so hence the reason we are just destroying them. Some of them are recent like 6 months ago. We usually keep them for about 6 months at the most then we may file an application for the destruction of the drugs. We have to go through each one of the items we have witnesses present we have a magistrate present, we have a justice of the peace, we have media personnel present and we also have someone from the forensic lab who does random testing just to confirm that whatever it is we are destroying is indeed drugs."
Reporter
"Why is this an important process for the police department, aside from ensuring that no one gets their hands on these illicit items?"
Supt Hector Rodriguez, OC National Prosecution Branch "Well the drugs it is a matter of freeing up space in our exhibit room because we have, our space at the exhibit room is very limited so we need to do this exercise from time to time to free up space and likewise we destroy it in a proper way so it does not get out back to the public."
Due to the requirement for precise documentation with multiple checks and balances, the process took hours.
It took almost 5 hours for the process to be completed.
