By Belize Live News Staff: A quick stop at a store turned into an arrest in Orange Walk Town, after a police officer reported catching the smell of marijuana drifting from a parked car.
The Belize Police Department reports that on July 7, 2026, officers on patrol pulled up on Ziricote Street, where a black car was parked ahead of the police vehicle. Walking past the car, one officer said he noticed the aroma of marijuana coming from the back seat.
When the officer approached and asked the man seated in the rear whether he was smoking marijuana, the man reportedly admitted that he was. Asked to step out for a search, he was also asked whether he had any more on him, to which police say he responded that it was his personal smoke.
The search reportedly turned up a clear plastic bag of a green leafy substance, suspected to be cannabis, in his front pants pocket. After being cautioned, the man opted to remain silent and was taken to the Orange Walk Police Station.
There, he was identified as 34-year-old Jamie Adam Quijano, a camera operator and news editor of Orange Walk Town. The suspected cannabis was re-weighed at the station, registering 13.22 grams, then sealed and labelled in his presence.
Police formally charged Quijano with one count of possession of a controlled drug, namely 13.22 grams of cannabis.
