By Belize Live News Staff: At an age when most are enjoying time with grandchildren, 72-year-old Alvin Banks is instead spending three months behind bars after being caught with a crack pipe in Taylor’s Alley on Monday morning.
Banks, a resident of Euphrates Avenue, appeared before a Magistrate and wasted no time in pleading guilty to the offense. The court heard that police officers conducting a routine walk-through spotted him smoking from a silver pipe before attempting to hide it in his pocket. The pipe, measuring four inches in length, was retrieved and presented as evidence.
In court, Banks openly admitted his addiction, acknowledging that he needed rehabilitation. The Magistrate told him that if he truly wants to change, he should enroll in the prison’s drug program at the Kolbe Foundation.
Banks has four prior convictions for drug-related offenses, and this marks his fifth. Without family support to fund placement at an external rehabilitation center, the court’s only option was prison.
Despite the conviction, Banks expressed hope that this time behind bars could help him turn his life around.
