Attorney Slams Customs Dept. Over ‘Illegal’ Checkpoint

Attorney Tiffany Cadle is pushing back hard against what she calls an “illegal” customs checkpoint and what appears to be an overreach of authority that led to a pursuit on the George Price Highway. In a fiery Facebook Live video that has since gone viral, Cadle accused customs officers of acting without reasonable suspicion and violating her constitutional right to freedom of movement. Her frustration underscores a legal debate over the scope of customs enforcement powers beyond ports of entry. Meanwhile, the Customs and Excise Department, in a press release, defended its actions, citing joint operations with law enforcement agencies to combat smuggling and transnational crime, and urged public cooperation with all checkpoints. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.

 

Voice of: Tiffany Cadle, Attorney-at-law

“I am on a high-speed chase by customs department.”

 

That’s attorney Tiffany Cadle behind the wheel of her SUV, with her elderly mother in the passenger seat on the Philip Goldson Highway. What happens next? It’s all caught on a now-viral Facebook Live from Belize City. In the video, Cadle is visibly upset as she explains to police that a group of customs officers chased her all the way from Sandhill. Why? She says it started when she drove past what she calls an illegal checkpoint. According to Cadle, those officers had no reasonable suspicion and that’s why she refused to let them search her vehicle for uncustomed goods.

 

Tiffany Cadle, Attorney-at-law

“There is a police checkpoint in Sandhill, everybody knows that, in Sandhill. Last night there was no police present, no police officer I can identify by any uniform or anything. There was a lady standing up in a black uniform and I don’t know who she was working for. Across there was BDF. A customs vehicle was parked in the yard of the police, a customs officers was on the side in the phone. The person on the phone had a flashlight and waving people off, so I drove through. About five minutes after that, I saw lights, so we thought it was an emergency or something.”

 

Cadle says she found a safe location on the highway to give way to the vehicle only to realize that it was a customs vehicle in pursuit of her.

 

Voice of: Tiffany Cadle

“Why do you have me in the middle of the highway? Customs is not suppose to have any checkpoint. That is illegality. Any police officer was there. No police officer was there. There is no police officer there. No police stop me there. Nobody is checking my vehicle. This is illegal. No man.”

According to Section Ninety-one of the Customs Regulations, a customs officer can stop and examine a cart, wagon, or carriage, to prevent smuggling, if they have reasonable suspicion.

 

Tiffany Cadle

“We got all the way up to the second roundabout here in the city and the police put their vehicle to block and the police came out in their high powered rifle and I asked, what is the matter. They said I evaded a customs checkpoint and that they need to search my vehicle. I said officer nobody is searching my vehicle, it is illegal. I said, do you have probable cause? They said no. I said no nobody is searching my vehicle.”

 

A female police officer eventually conducted a search on Cadle’s vehicle. The only items they found were a black cake and several bottles of “rum popo”. And now, the Customs and Excise Department is doubling down on its position. The department issued a press release advising the public that its officers are engaged in a joint operation comprised of members of the Belize Police Department, Belize Defense Force, Belize Coast Guard and the Immigration Department to interdict all nature of illicit goods and combat all forms of transnational organized activities. The department says its powers extend beyond the ports of entry and urges the members of the public to cooperate with all law enforcement agencies.

 

Tiffany Cadle

“The act makes it very clear, it is just like any other stop and search, you must have reasonable suspicion. Even if a police officer stops you, and the police ask you, where are you going? Why are you asking me that? Do you have suspicion that I have committed a criminal wrong. Have I committed any traffic offenses? Why are you asking me these questions? We have freedom of movement in this country, we have constitutional rights for freedom of movement. So are you telling me now my movement is restricted when I pull up to this checkpoint for you to ask me where I am coming or going? I pass a border point, a far border point in Corozal, you are in Sandhill. What reasonable suspicion can you possible have in Sandhill and question me and examine my vehicle, what?”

 

Cadle says she intends to write a strong letter to the department seeking a valid explanation for their actions. She also argues that the customs officers endangered her life and her mother’s when they cut them off on the highway and used their high beam to impair their vision. She intends to file a lawsuit against the department. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.