By Belize Live News Staff: The police mobile rolled past, and the man on the street moved his hand behind his back a little too quickly. That small motion, police say, is what turned a Thursday night walk in San Pedro into a drug charge.
The Belize Police Department reports that officers patrolling the Boca del Rio Area near a grocery shop at about 9:15 p.m. on Thursday, July 23, 2026, spotted a man walking with a dark blue school bag and, upon noticing the marked vehicle, hurriedly hiding something behind him.
An officer stepped out, identified himself, and advised the man he would be searched for drugs and ammunition. His pockets came up clean. The school bag did not. A flashlight check of the front pocket revealed a small transparent ziplock bag holding a white powdery substance suspected to be cocaine.
He was arrested on the spot, cautioned, and taken to the San Pedro Police Station, where he was identified as Edi Anderi Aban, 24, a labourer of the San Juan Area. The scale, shown to him at zero first, put the find at 0.5 grams. The suspected drugs were sealed and labelled in front of him, he signed the envelope, received his rights, and got his phone call.
By Friday, the paperwork was complete: Aban was formally charged with possession of controlled drugs, and opted for silence when cautioned again.
It is worth noting that Aban, like anyone facing a charge, is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless and until proven guilty before the court.
Half a gram in a school bag pocket, one quick movement on a dark street, and another small entry in the island’s steady police ledger. San Pedro’s patrols, as the week has shown, are watching closely.
