Former Justice Lisa Shoman Backs Legal Challenge on Stop-and-Search Rights

Belize City attorney Tiffany Cadle is challenging what she describes as an “illegal” customs checkpoint and an overreach of authority that led to a highway pursuit along the Philip Goldson Highway. The incident, which has gone viral on social media, began when Cadle drove past a checkpoint near Sandhill with her elderly mother in the car. In a Facebook Live video, Cadle alleged that customs officers acted without reasonable suspicion and violated her constitutional right to freedom of movement.

According to Cadle, she initially passed the checkpoint because no police officers were present, only customs personnel whose authority she questioned. She explained that she only realised she was being pursued when a customs vehicle appeared behind her with lights flashing. Cadle recounted stopping safely on the highway, only to be confronted by customs officers insisting on searching her SUV. The search, conducted by a female police officer, yielded only a black cake and several bottles of “rum popo.” Cadle said the officers endangered her and her mother by cutting them off on the highway and using high beams to impair their vision. She intends to write a formal letter to the Customs and Excise Department and pursue legal action.

The Customs and Excise Department defended its actions in a press release, explaining that officers were part of a joint operation with the Belize Police Department, Belize Defense Force, Belize Coast Guard, and Immigration Department to combat smuggling and transnational crime. The department said that its powers extend beyond ports of entry and urged public cooperation.

The case has drawn attention from Belizean legal experts, including former Justice Lisa Shoman. Shoman said on social media that the law requires customs and police officers to have “reasonable suspicion” before conducting a stop and search. She cited the landmark case Greg Nunez and Bryton Codd v. Attorney General of Belize and the Commissioner of Police (Claim 773 of 2020), in which the court ruled that police acted illegally by stopping and searching Nunez and Codd without probable cause. The ruling deemed such actions arbitrary, oppressive, and unconstitutional, violating the claimants’ rights to personal liberty and freedom of movement under the Belize Constitution.

Shoman said that indiscriminate or random stops do not meet the legal standard for reasonable suspicion. She noted that the statute cited by customs officers requires a valid basis for any checkpoint search and that it is up to law enforcement, not the individual stopped, to justify the stop. Shoman warned that arbitrary searches, profiling, or targeting individuals without cause could be deemed unlawful, reinforcing the constitutional protections that Cadle cited in her challenge.