Trio charged for high seas incident

Charged for various offences

Monday, April 14, 2014. AARON HUMES Reporting: A trio of Belize City men were charged with aggravated assault and drugs and illegal fishing offences as a result of a bust on the high seas following a chase last week Thursday.

According to police, two members of the National Coast Guard, Dobian Montero and Jose Reyes, reported that they responded to a report of an apparent robbery in an area southeast of Middle Long Caye in the Lighthouse Reef system, 20 miles from Belize City.

Shortly thereafter they saw a blue and green 23 foot skiff under the name “Dannica” which corresponded to the vessel used in the robbery.

The skiff fled and the Coast Guard officers set chase. Eventually, the vessel stopped in the water and as the Coast Guard closed in, four shots were fired.

The vessel then tried to make its way back toward Middle Long Caye to outrun the law, but they were reeled in and the men on board apprehended.

They are 28 year old Giovanni Murillo, 19 year old Everon Teck, Jr., and 36 year old Lionel Sedacey, all fishermen from Belize City.

Lionel Sedacy

Evron Teck

Giovanni Murrillo

Reports are that the group were engaged in stealing seafood catches from fishermen and selling it to outside sources.

The group appeared in the #1 Magistrate’s Court before Chief Magistrate Ann-Marie Smith and were charged with 2 counts of aggravated assault.

They were remanded without bail until June 13, 2014 after pleading not guilty to the charge. Sedacey alone was charged in the #2 Magistrate’s Court with possession of a controlled drug for 0.9 grams of cannabis found at his Amara Avenue home by police after a search.

He pleaded guilty and paid a $100 fine forthwith.

Coast Guard officials found 31 lobster tails and four hawks bill turtle fins and laid charges of illegal possession of products outside of closed season.

Sedacey pleaded guilty to these charges as well and Magistrate Sharon Frazer fined him $650 for the lobster tails and $4,000 for the turtle fins, both to be paid by April 30, in default a total of 15 months imprisonment.

The items were turned over to Police who handed them to the Fisheries Department as that authority specifically deals with fisheries-related offences.

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