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As you heard yesterday, they were found with no drugs and only licensed weapons. The reason they gave for being in the area was that they were hunting, and tonight, we've learnt that it's something the group does often. But will that excuse hold up in court? The men have a long way to go but for tonight, they have been remanded to the Belize Central Prison. Courtney Menzies camped outside the court this afternoon and has this story.

Police Corporal Eric Young and five other men, Miguel Angel Zetina, Edwin Armando Gonzalez, Jaime Umberto Maaz, Edilberto Medrano, and Salus Penner, were in court today on a single charge of conspiracy to land a plane without the permission of the Ministry of Aviation.

The men were remanded to prison and will have to say there at least until Friday - if bail submissions are heard. But Attorney Bryan Neal, who is representing Zetina, Gonzalez, Maaz, and Medrano, says he will file the application as soon as possible.

Bryan Neal, Attorney
"We made submissions for the grant of bail, the magistrate considered the submissions and exercised her discretion to refuse bail."

Courtney Menzies:
"And will you be seeking bail this coming Friday?"

Bryan Neal, Attorney
"Yes, well, I don't know, it's up to the supreme court to determine when it will be heard but we will put in an application for bail as early as tomorrow for my four clients."

But until then, his clients are sticking to their story - that they were hunting in Mountain Pine Ridge and were just caught at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Bryan Neal, Attorney
"As it stands, how the law stands, it is not for them to prove that they were hunting, it is for the police to prove that they were landing the plane and we have seen nothing, that was one of our submissions in court, we saw nothing to suggest that a plane was being landed so we made that submission but the court has denied bail."

"They were very concerned, none of them have criminal records, none of them have been before the court ever, and so to be on this position, with the spotlight on planes landing every so often in Belize now, they are very concerned about the negative spotlight that has been thrown even before the trial has transpired."

And the other two accused men share those sentiments. Reports are that Corporal Eric Young was distraught to find himself on the other side of the law after nearly a decade in the department.

He and Penner are sharing attorney Richard "Dickie" Bradley but attorney Arthur Saldivar was holding brief on his behalf. Saldivar told us that the men were blindsided by the arrest and that, in Young's case, hunting is part of his routine.

Arthur Saldivar, Attorney
"I believe that Mr Young and Mr Penner have been adamant that they have not done anything, not involved in any plane, and has held to that position that they were only out there hunting and they were totally unaware of this airplane that they have been charged for, in fact they were more than 12 miles away from that area from what I've been told."

Courtney Menzies:
"And Mr Young has given how many years to the police department?"

Arthur Saldivar, Attorney
"18 years of stellar service. He does not have any disciplinary actions brought against him in his tenure as a police officer and again it's an unfortunate situation that he finds himself in but as is the law he's presumed innocent until proven guilty."

Courtney Menzies:
"And he's somebody, I understand from his family, he goes hunting often, that is something regular for him."

Arthur Saldivar, Attorney
"Yes and there's evidence of that all over Facebook, in fact any time he goes hunting he posts pictures of his catch and that has been his hobby for quite a long time."

The men are scheduled to return to court on February 22nd, 2022.