This afternoon, it caused quite a commotion on social media when news went out that San Ignacio Police had "confiscated a bag of passports". It even led to a spontaneous political protest from PUP supporters who suspected that a crime of some sort had happened. We can confirm tonight that police were handed a bag, which contained 8 passports, and right now, they're investigating their origin.
What we know for sure is that at around 1 p.m., the owner of Studio 7 Printing Press in San Ignacio called police when he found a suspicious bag in their business place. The officers responded, retrieved it, and that's when they found the passports: 1 Honduran, 1 Guatemalan, 1 American, 1 Belizean, and 4 Salvadoran. All the passports were in different names, and so at this time, police are looking into them to make sure that nothing illegal was involved in their procurement, or nothing illegal was intended for them going forward.
We've since been able to reach Immigration and Nationality Minister Godwin Hulse who told us one of the passports belonging to Belizean Charlie Cabral is perfectly legal, and legitimately issued. The Department checked into it, but they know nothing about the other 7.
So, who would just leave a bag with 8 passports lying around? We'll that's where Charlie Cabral comes in. He's a UDP campaigner in Cayo Northeast - and a seasoned political operator from the Salvador Fernandez camp. We're told that his story is that he was campaigning in the community of Billy White when a number of voters handed over the passports asking him to perform immigration services for them, namely visa extensions, or nationality applications. We can't say which because we have heard both versions from UDP friends of Cabral - but he wouldn't take our calls to confirm either way.
Now, strictly speaking, there's nothing wrong with having someone else's passport - unless the owner reports the document stolen. But whatever services Cabral was hoping to provide it would have been irregular, since, according to Immigration Minister Godwin Hulse, all such applications - for visa and nationality - have to be made in person. Hulse stressed that since January of 2014 all nationality applications and new visa applications are vetted by Nationality Committee and a Committee for Visa. On the Nationality Committee, there is a representative from the Church, the Union, and the Belize Chamber of Commerce. On the Visa vetting committee, there are 3 Chief Executive Officers of Government. And, again, no one but the applicant him or herself can take in their visa or nationality applications, which means that no agent can legitimately apply for these documents.
So, has a backdoor operation been inadvertently stumbled upon? That's what police will have to look into. Of course, with two weeks before the election, the situation is super-pressurized and scrutinized by the PUP who are seizing upon it as evidence of some type of immigration hustle, again coming out of Cayo Northeast.
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