Tonight, 36 year-old Godswell Flores, a Belize City food vendor is out on bail after he was allegedly caught with 2 statues which the authorities believe to authentic Mayan jade artifacts.
A woman police officer spotted Flores on Tuesday afternoon on Freetown Road and detained him because he matched the description she was given of a man wanted by police for questioning in connection with at shooting incident. When she searched him, she found a black knapsack which contained a small jade figurine and a large jade mask. The officer immediately recognized the possible importance of these items and escorted him to the Queen Street Police Precinct where he was charged with failure to produce a license to possess or have in custody or control any ancient monument for the two items.
He was arraigned today before Magistrate Dale Cayetano where he pleaded guilty saying that he did not know that the items were Mayan artifacts. He said that the items were given to him by a business partner who didn't explain their significance. Because of his explanation, Magistrate Cayetano entered him into an equivocal not-guilty plea, and granted him bail of $3,000, which he was able to meet.
He must return to court on March 12, his next court date.
Tonight, 7News spoke with Dr. Jaime Awe, who confirmed to us that an archaeologist from his office has inspected the items and it has been confirmed as authentic Mayan artifacts. The Police Department will maintain custody of the Mayan artifacts until after they are tendered as evidence against Flores in the criminal case. After that, it will be handed over to the Department of Archaeology.
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