Lobos remanded for gun and friends for weed

According to the report, three officers from the San Ignacio Police Station were on mobile patrol in Bullet Tree Falls village on Friday, October 29, when at around 8:30 pm, they received reports of a group of male persons traveling in a white Mazda pickup truck one of whomwas said to be armed with a gun.

It did not take long for the police to spot the vehicle parked on a farm located between Bullet Tree Falls and Santa Familia Village with a group of male persons assembled under a zinc roof shed. Police reports that as their unmarked Ford Ranger truck was approaching, one of the persons was seen running away from the group with a black plastic bag in his right hand. The most senior officer in the group set chase after him and whilst in pursuit, he reportedly observed when the fleeing man threw the bag into nearby bushes. The man was caught and, with assistance from the Quick Response Team (QRT) arriving on the request for reinforcement, a search led to the discovery of the bag containing a black, point 32 caliber, Smith & Wesson brand revolver, loaded with 6 rounds of suspected live ammunition in the chamber. The loaded gun was found tucked inside a brown gun holster.

All five detainees were transported to the police station in San Ignacio Town where they were identified as Belizeans Rodolfo Roni Lobos, 52, laborer, residing in the San Jose Area between the villages of Bullet Tree Falls and Santa Familia where they were encountered; Edward Glenford Torres, 34, electrician of a Shawville area address on the western outskirts of San Ignacio Town; Ian Vasquez, 33, laborer also of a Shawville address; Steven “Hen” Gentle, 29, electrician also from the Shawville community and Benjamin Vasquez, 27, mechanic, residing on Benque Viejo Road in San Ignacio Town.

While Edward Glenford Torres and Steven “Hen” Gentle were identified as brothers, there is no blood relation between Ian Vasquez and Benjamin Vasquez. The suspected marijuana, tipping the scale at 189.1 grams, was weighed in the presence of Edward Torres, Ian Vasquez, Steven Gentle and Benjamin Vasquez resulting in their being formally arrested and jointly charged, on Saturday, October 30, for drug trafficking. Also on Saturday, October 30, the fifth detainee, Rodolfo Roni Lobos, was formally arrested and charged with keeping an unlicensed firearm and for keeping unlicensed ammunition. All five accused persons appeared in San Ignacio’s Magistrate court on Tuesday, November 2, where all charges were read to thembyMagistrate Albert Hoare. They all pleaded not guilty to all charges. Given the nature of the offence Lobos could not be offered bail and was remanded to prison while the other four accused, on the drug trafficking charge, were granted and released on bail in the sum of five thousand dollars with two guarantors of twenty five hundred dollars each. They were ordered to return to court on Monday, December 20 2010.