Both men have been named with 4 other defendants, including Belizean Andrew Godfrey, in a federal indictment accusing them of participating in a scheme which defrauded the US Government of 1 billion Belize dollars in taxes.

Local law enforcement has been going to great lengths to facilitate the US authorities, even though no crime was committed on Belizean soil. As we showed you last night, the US funded Anti Drug Unit, took eight hours to clean out the offices of the 3 men on the 4th floor of the Matalon Building on Coney Drive. At the end of the raid, truckloads of documents, records, computers, and personal items were confiscated and delivered to the Financial Intelligence Unit.

US authorities say they will seek to extradite Knowles, Leach, and Godfrey to face trial in that country, but at this time, no official request has been made to the Foreign Affairs Ministry. As we told you, the men were allowed to leave the building after Tuesday night's seizure, and they weren't officially detained for anything. So, they were out free and unaware of any impediment to their movement, up until today when police picked them up at the Airport just after midday. 7News understands that they were trying to board a chartered flight to Cancun.

We stress that officially, these men aren't wanted in Belize, so they have been allowed to move as they please. But all that came to an end, when they tried to check in for that flight; law enforcement in Belize were immediately called in. We understand that they were trying to reach the Bahamas, the home country of the Leach and Knowles, and that the reasoning is that since they have no business to conduct here for the foreseeable future - and since the police took every single item out of their office down to the last staple and garbage bin, they should probably return home with their families.

But that plan was foiled when police arrived, detained them and escorted them along with a sizable quantity of luggage to the Ladyville Police Station. The officials from that station wouldn't confirm, but we understand that personnel from the FIU took over the investigation and started to question them about their intentions. Up until about an hour and a half before news time, the officials from the FIU were still going through all of their belongings, and counting whatever cash they had on them. We also met one of their local attorneys, Godfrey Smith, at the police station, doing as much as he could to get the men released.

We tried to confirm our information with the Officer Commanding Ladyville Police, but we were referred to the new Public Relations Unit at Eastern Division. PR Officer, Douglas Hyde told us by phone that the police couldn't comment on the detention of the men because they are only providing a support role to the FIU in this matter.

No charges have been forthcoming so far, but well-informed observers have told us that this is a delaying tactic to give the US Government time to get a formal extradition request prepared.

We also understand that the FIU intends to the charge them with failing to declare funds over $20,000 Bze to the authorities. Both men reportedly had a substantial amount of cash on them, but we're unsure of the actual amount they had in their possession. We're told that a possible defence against that, should the FIU take that route, is that they were not even given the opportunity to declare because as soon as the authorities at the airport positively identified them, they were pulled out and taken to the station. Around 5:30 pm, they were transferred to the Queen Street Police Station - where they are still being held.