And, our next story is about something like that: namely, sugar. The report is that on Monday 8th September at around 8:00 in the night, alert Cayo police came across 2 trucks loaded with 160 sacks of sugar in the area of the Calla Creek road - which is the major smuggling corridor from Belize into Guatemala.

Police detained 7 men and escorted them to the Benque Viejo border where they were handed over to Customs. Now, Customs told us that indeed they received the men and the cargo, but because it is not an offence to have local sugar in Belize, they could not charge them. Of course, customs, like everyone else, knows that the sugar was likely destined for Guatemala through the back, but they couldn't bring any charges because, as one official told us, quote, "you can't charge someone for what's in their mind." End quote. The men were advised that if they wanted to export the sugar, they would need a permit to do so.

With that they were released. But, here's where the story takes a turn. It turns out that one of the men used to co-manage the Commodities Store, a business in Belmopan, which is owned and operated by Minister Godwin Hulse's family. The man involved is actually Hulse's former son in law, so the allegation emerged that Hulse had somehow intervened to facilitate his release.

Well, when we spoke to him today, Hulse told us our call was the first he was hearing of the incident. He added that his former son in law has had nothing to do with the business ever since he split up with Hulse's daughter last year. Hulse said that if the man was found smuggling, he wishes they would lock him up. And for good measure, he added his now famous line that even if his mother, father, son or daughter were caught doing something illegal, he would not intervene on their behalf.