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Today the eight men caught in Bullet Tree with a container-ful of what appears to be chemical precursors went to San Ignacio court.  As we've reported, they were caught in Bullett Tree early on Monday morning when police saw an eighteen-wheeler with a 40 foot container and a pickup – both with Corozal plates parked next to the village police station. 

A look inside the container turned up ten – 50 gallon drums.  So far, two of the drums have been tested: one for hydrochloric acid and the other for ammonium hydroxide. 

So, tonight, we can confirm that Richardo Garcia, Alfonso Antonio Ovando, Emil Williams, Victor Constanza, Oscar Castillo, Alexis Arana, Patrick Smith, and David Hernandez have all been charged with customs offenses for the Ammonium Hydroxide. Garcia, Ovando and Willims have been additionally charged offenses in relation to the drum of hydrochloric acid, which has recently been added to the list of controlled drugs.

 This afternoon, our colleagues from Plus TV were in San Ignacio, and they spoke to the attorney of one of the men, about how far the case has progressed. Here's what he told them:

Richard "Dickey" Bradley - Attorney for Emil Williams
"This afternoon in the court room of Magistrate Morgan, 8 persons were charged for customs offence, in relation to - well, on the charge sheet, it is just for 1 barrel of ammonium hydroxide, 8 persons in relation to 1 barrel, so far. 3 persons were also charged under the Misuse of Drugs Act, that they had in their possession, a controlled drug, which is hydrochloric acid, which is a substance only recently, this year, was added to the long list of substances that citizens ought not to have, unless they have been given a permit by the Government Chemist or someone in authority in relation to those matter. In effect, the prosecutor did apply to Magistrate Morgan for bail to be denied on the grounds that more time was needed to test the substances that were found in the barrels. Bernard Augustus Pitts appeared for most of the defendants in the customs matter, and for 2 of the defendants in the drug allegation. I represented Mr. Williams who was charged for customs as well as for the misuse of drugs. We did make applications to the magistrate pointing out that this does not fall within the Crime Control Act. It is unfair to ask a court to lock people up, deprive them of their freedom, that there is a need for further testing, when no indication has been given to the court as to how long it would take to that testing. If in truth, there is a need for further testing. In listening to all the arguments, the magistrate was satisfied - and she is a very strict magistrate; in fact, I would not have been surprised if she had denied bail. The arguments were strong. These men have been in police custody from late Sunday night, were told they would be charged early Monday morning. So, in fact, the substance would have been at the government lab for at least from Monday, or whenever the police made them available. We have information that in fact, those tests are inconclusive as to what is the substance in the drums. There is a possibility that maybe further testing - if it is undertaken - could show otherwise, but in fact, so far, today, Wednesday, there is no test to say that they have been in possession of anything. By virtue of a statutory instrument, which is a law that a minister signs in his office, nobody would know that there is a long list substances, which has been added to the Drugs Act. I can show you here for your viewers. There are some; I know that it is in fine print, and difficult to read, but your naked eyes can see it. The ones at the top there, have only this year been added. I know you don't know, and I don't even know that they have added these substances, to say that they are controlled. In other words, if you were mopping your floor, and using one of these substances, suddenly now, it's illegal. These are more. Nobody in the country knows, just like how they had changed the firearm act to say that if you have a flare gun to signal that you're in distress at sea, has become a prohibited equipment."

7 of the 8 men were granted bail by the sitting magistrate of $5,000, and this evening they were making arrangements to meet it. The only accused who wasn't granted bail was Alfonso Antonio Ovando, who owes the court $63,000. He was informed that bail will not be considered until he pays that entire sum. Bail was granted despite strong objections from the prosecution, who told the court that they are working on additional testing for the other 8 drums. 7News has been informed that the lab has made attempts to test these other 8, but they've returned results to the police department that they are unable to conduct testing because they DO NOT the equipment do so. It remains to be seen if samples will be sent abroad to determine the identity of the chemicals in the other 8 drums.
                                   
Again, these chemical precursors are believed to be used for the manufacture of Crystal Meth – a highly addictive illegal drug which is prevalent in the United States.  Cayo police say that from Cayo, the barrels were destined for Botes Mexico, though another illegal border point.