40 year-old Honduran Blanca Garay Rodriguez is in the custody of the Belize Immigration Department tonight. She is waiting to be handed over to the authorities of her home country following a warrant for her arrests as a suspected facilitator for a human trafficking ring in that country.
Yesterday, immigration officers got a tip that there was a woman wanted by Interpol living in the Mile 8 Community on the Western Highway. They responded and detained Rodriguez, and a check of her documents revealed that she was a Honduran national who was granted a permit to enter into the country and stay here until last week Tuesday. The immigration documents also showed that she entered the country 3 weeks ago, and that she failed to comply with the terms of her visitor's permit.
When the immigration officers ran her name into the Interpol database, it revealed that there were arrests warrants for her back in Honduras, so contact was made with the authorities of that country. The Immigration officers were informed that she was wanted in connection to a human trafficking operation, where she was the last suspect who had not been caught. The Belizean authorities believe that she was hiding out in Belize, and so she operated in the community on as low a profile as possible.
She was arraigned today before Magistrate Leslie Hamilton where she pleaded guilty to the immigration offence. She was fined $1,000 to be paid forthwith, and an order for her immediate removal was granted.
7News has been informed that in the next few days Rodriguez will be handed over to the Honduran authorities as early as Friday, which is when the warrant for her arrest will be handed over to Belizean law enforcement.
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