7 News Belize

Former Cop Turned Politician Implicated In Contraband Bust
posted (February 18, 2016)
Paul Wade is a former Assistant Commissioner of Police, who retired and went into politics, where he emerged as the constituency chairman for the PUP in Belmopan.

But we don't know if it's his police or political connections that allowed him to get off easy yesterday afternoon in the Corozal District. 7News has confirmed reports that Wade was in a group intercepted by customs in Estero, which is a contraband hotspot on the Belize side of the Rio Hondo in the Corozal district. Smugglers had brought over 41 cases of Mexican tiles across the Rio Hondo. Wade went and pleaded his case to customs, which agreed to only charge him a few hundred dollars duty on the items. Usually, contraband goods would be confiscated, and the owner charged three times the value.

But, Wade today told us that the contraband was not for him, it was simply for someone close to him and he only went to assist. He says quote, "it had nothing to do with me." Customs sources tell us that a Toyota Tacoma pickup was there and that he made a personal appeal for leniency.

We are told that the Customs Department held unto meats, soft drinks, and other items in the contraband cargo.

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