Posted: Thursday, September 11, 2025. 7:34 pm CST.
By Breaking Belize News Staff: What was supposed to be a birthday getaway turned into a day behind bars for a New Yorker caught smuggling weed into Belize.
Ryan Louis Earl McKenzie, a 31-year-old maintenance worker from Queens, arrived at the Philip Goldson International Airport on September 10 aboard American Airlines Flight #1191, intending to celebrate his 32nd birthday in Belize. Instead, he was detained after authorities found 53 grams of cannabis hidden in his luggage.
This morning, McKenzie—who spent the night locked down at the Ladyville Police Station—was escorted to the Belize City Magistrate’s Court, where he appeared before a Senior Magistrate in Court #5. He was charged with importation of a controlled drug.
McKenzie, unrepresented in court, asked for a sentencing indication before entering a plea. The Magistrate explained that the charge carries the same penalties as drug trafficking: a minimum $10,000 fine and up to three years in prison, with fines reaching as high as $100,000. However, as a first-time offender with no prior convictions in Belize, the Magistrate started from a $3,000 fine, deducted $1,000 for his early guilty plea, and ultimately fined him $2,000 plus $5 court costs. He was ordered to pay immediately or face one year in prison.
McKenzie pleaded guilty and narrowly avoided a much harsher penalty. Instead of partying for his birthday, he spent it in court, paying for a costly mistake.
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The post American man who brought weed to celebrate birthday in Belize fined $2,000 but avoids jail appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
Posted: Thursday, September 11, 2025. 7:34 pm CST. By Breaking Belize News Staff: What was supposed to be a birthday getaway turned into a day behind
The post American man who brought weed to celebrate birthday in Belize fined $2,000 but avoids jail appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
