Drug Plane Trial Collapses After Magistrate’s Recusal

The long-running trial of seven men accused in one of Belize’s largest drug busts has collapsed and will now have to start over. The decision came on Tuesday, when Magistrate Kara Walters abruptly recused herself from the case, bringing an unexpected halt to proceedings that had been ongoing for three and a half years in the Cayo Magistrate’s Court.

The case stems from a major drug plane landing in late November 2021 in the Mountain Pine Ridge area, where police seized over 1,200 pounds of cocaine and detained several individuals, including a Mexican national identified as the copilot. It was a high-profile bust that drew regional attention and marked a significant success for law enforcement at the time.

The accused—Salus Penner, Eric Young, Miguel Angel Zetina, Edwin Armando Gonzalez, Jaime Umberto Maz, Edilberto Medrano, and Mexican national Jesus Alberto Quintero—have been facing charges related to the incident. Quintero has remained on remand since the time of the arrest.

There are five defence attorneys and two prosecutors assigned to the case, which had been making its way through court since early 2022. However, according to reports, recent courtroom sessions became heated. Hard words were allegedly exchanged between lead prosecutor Alifah Elrington and Magistrate Walters during the last two hearings—tensions which may have ultimately prompted the magistrate’s decision to recuse herself.

Commissioner of Police Chester Williams confirmed that the move came after a formal submission from the prosecution.

“From the briefing I got from the prosecutor Ms. Elrington, there seems to have been some issue in the courtroom where she believes that the case was not going as it should and that there may have been some degree of bias on the part of the magistrate,” Williams explained. “And based on that, she made a submission to the magistrate for the magistrate to recuse herself. That submission was accepted and the magistrate recused herself, and so we just have to look forward to a new trial.”

But the implications are significant. With the trial now needing to restart under a new magistrate, defence attorneys say the prolonged delay could raise legal concerns.

Restarting the trial will not only prolong the process—potentially by several more years—but it also represents a costly legal undertaking, with multiple attorneys and defendants involved. For the accused, particularly those still in custody, the delays add to an already lengthy wait for justice in one of Belize’s most complex narcotics prosecutions in recent memory.