Over the weekend, police got 4 firearms and 37 live rounds of ammunition off the street. It was all done by officers of the Eastern Division's Special Assignment Team, who also seized 12 kilos, or 26.5 pounds of marijuana. Normally, that would have been reported as great police work. Except tonight, a Belize City family is crying foul.
That's because the 26 pounds of marijuana was found at the home of 27 year-old Shayanne Castro's parents. She's the wife of Wasani Castro, minister Edmond Castro's son.
On Saturday evening, the couple were going to her mother's house on Sarstoon Street, when police stopped them.
Her family says that they convinced her to open her mother's house, and they searched it. That's when they found the 26 pounds of marijuana, and because she was the only one there, they charged her with drug trafficking.
The family says that this set in motion a series of events in which they helped the Special Assignment team to find those 4 guns. It was part of some deal that they claim police and their attorney agreed to, where they would help the cops get these guns, and in exchange, Shayanne Castro would not be charged.
Now we know for a fact that this is a standard police practice, but this time, something went wrong. Shayanne Castro's mother says that she held up her end of the bargain, but police charged her daughter with drug trafficking with intent to supply anyway. Tonight, they are claiming that the cops extorted them, and then failed to deliver on their end of a dirty deal.
We've been following the story since yesterday, and Daniel Ortiz has this report:
Daniel Ortiz reporting
27 year-old Shayanne Castro was arraigned in the Magistrate's Court today for drug trafficking. Police from the Eastern Division's Special Assignment Team say that they found 26.6 pounds of marijuana at her mother's house on Sarstoon Street.
It sounds like an open and shut case, but her family asserts that it's anything but that. Her mother, who asked us to conceal her identity, tells us that one of the lead officers allegedly brokered a deal with them. The offer was that if Shayanne or her family could turn over 4 guns, and a grenade, or provided them with the intel to retrieve these illegal weapons, they wouldn't charge her daughter.
Now, we've heard of this type of arrangement before, but it is the first time that someone has come forward to describe it. Shayanne's mother also disputes her involvement in the crime.
Voice of Family Member: Mother of Accused
"My daughter doesn't know what she is walking into. My daughter went to her house and they found weed in there. I rent a young man, a close friend of mine a room in my house because we are in need of the money. The young man came and it looks like he brought weed into my house which I don't tolerate. I have my grandchildren there. I wouldn't tolerate anything illegal in my room. So anyway, they say they found 25 pounds of weed and they say it's for my daughter. That is not for my daughter. She doesn't deal with those kind of thing. My daughter is a respectable woman. My daughter is from home to work. My daughter doesn't go anywhere. My daughter is into her child. So they chance my daughter."
"They made an arrangement with my daughter lawyer stating that they want 4 guns and a grenade and then they will let go my daughter. They made the agreement with the attorney present. So the attorney told that they he doesn't want them (police) to backfire on him when this happens. He (police) says no, that he is a man of his word and this is what will happen."
"Like a mother, I went and took all my scrapings (money) with the help of some friends to try and find out how we can get those things. Eventually we ended up getting them through other else persons and we put the things and we called the policeman and let them know where the things were."
"They got the things and then they talk about they would have let go my daughter. They didn't even let her go. When they got everything they took my daughter. So they came and get the things, they put my daughter in another truck from Faber's Road. Because they took her at Faber's Road and from there they went to Queen Street Police Station to charge my daughter."
"Those policemen needs help. They are out of order. Nobody can't work with those men."
The Special Assignment Team confirmed yesterday that indeed they found four guns - which we can say would have to be a record for seizures in a single day countrywide - much less on just the southside.
As police put it, the first was this .38 special revolver, which they found in an abandoned building at the corner of Mahogany and Sittee Streets at 9:28 AM.
Ten minutes later, the Special Assignment Team found this 9mm pistol which had a magazine, and one .380 live round of ammunition.
About an hour later, the very same Special Assignment Team found this 12 gauge Mossberg shotgun, right on the same Sartoon Street, where Shayanne's family lives.
Then at 2:10pm, the team found this black Glock 9mm pistol and a magazine inside the Lord Ridge Cemetery under a tree near a tomb.
That's four guns in four and a half hours - what might just be a record for any police unit.
But according to Shayanne's mother, it's not good policing, it's extortion.
Voice of Family Member: Mother of Accused
"Please let my daughter go home. You all got what you've asked for. I am broke, I don't have any money. I don't even know where my next meal will come from. They made me scrape up everything I got and then you just lock up my daughter in the piss house. You are (police) are not right, you all need help."
Well, Senior Superintendent Mark Vidal, Commander of the Eastern Division South, made a counter allegation, saying that personalities acting in Shayanne's interest attempted to pervert the course of justice.
Responding via text message to our request for comment, Vidal said, quote, "The officer involved in that case did not at any time communicate with the attorney for the accused and did not enter into any negotiations with a view towards refraining from proceeding with charges. As to the other issue, we are in the process of putting together evidence which we think discloses an attempt to pervert the course of justice by persons acting on behalf of the defendant. We will be forwarding that evidence to the office of the DPP for advice." End quote.
So, the police are denying having any negotiations with the family or their attorney, but after Shayanne's arraignment today, one of her 2 attorneys, Marcel Cardona, asserted that indeed these negotiations happened. He goes even further to say that there is proof in the form of recordings of the conversations with the officer.
Marcel Cardona - Attorney for Shayanne Castro
"Yes I have listen to the recordings. There are recordings. There are tapes that do prove that indeed the police department of officials from the police department sought to broker a deal with the family members. The police then proceeded to enter into discussions with her through her attorney after the possibility if she, or her friends and family and associates, if she were able to assist the police in putting off the streets a number of items that are used regularly to commit crimes and even murders etc., if she were able to assist, to get these things off the street, they would be prepared to consider just moving on, because they know for a fact that she does not live at that residence and they know for a fact that she was only visiting and they bated her. She was not living at that residence. She lives in Maskall Village and she was simply in the vicinity approaching the area to go and pay a visit to her family."
Daniel Ortiz, reporter
"Are these recordings available? Would you be able to make those available as proof since the police is calling out the family that you all tried to influence them, instead of the other way around?"
Marcel Cardona
"As I said there are recording that I am aware of, but I am still in consultation with my learned colleague co-counsel to decide on way going forward in relation to this matter."
Cardona told us that he and his co-council, Dickie Bradley, needed to discuss whether to release these recordings publicly. We are waiting for their decision, but for Shayanne's mother, all she cares about is that her daughter has to face the criminal charge of drug trafficking.
Voice of Family Member: Mother of Accused
"You know my daughter has nothing to do with this. My daughter is a respectable woman. Just because you don't like the Castro's and she is married into Castro, you are trying to put things on my daughter. Stop try to do things to my daughter. She is a respectable lady. I bring up my daughter. I didn't drag her up. My daughter has respect. Nobody can say they see my daughter hangs out on the street. You got us looking like the bad one, because we have to go and find those things that we don't even deal with. You know when I hold a gun? The first time I held a gun was yesterday and I was trembling, I felt like I wanted to die. You all are having me passed out and having my pressure going up on nothing."
Shayanne Castro was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Sharon Frazer on the charge of drug trafficking for 12.028 kilos of marijuana. She pleaded not guilty and was released on bail of $9,000. She must hand in her travel documents, and attend all adjournments of the case until it is finished. She returns to court on December 22.
As you saw in our story, police strongly deny the family's accusation that they brokered a deal to refrain from charging her in exchange for the weapons seizures. The family says that there are these recordings with the officer which proves it, but up until news time, they still have not made them public.
| 