Three US tourists fined $300 each for importing 33 g of cannabis at Belize airport
Three American women arriving on a JetBlue flight from New York in August 2025 were caught at Philip Goldson International Airport with about 32.76 grams of marijuana between them. They spent a night at the Ladyville Police Station, pleaded guilty to importing a controlled drug and were each fined $300 plus $5 in costs.
🇧🇿 Philip Goldson International Airport, Ladyville · Belize
Three American women arrived in Belize on a JetBlue flight from New York on
Wednesday, August 20, 2025, and were stopped at the Philip Goldson International
Airport.[1]Police found 17.35 grams of marijuana on Arisa Philson, 12.41
grams on Iyahna Rayside and 3.0 grams on Alliah Kemp, about 32.76 grams in all.[2]The women were arrested at the airport and spent the night at the Ladyville
Police Station.[3]
The next morning, 21 August 2025, the three appeared in Court #1 before
Magistrate Ludlow Black and all pleaded guilty to importing a controlled drug.[1]The magistrate explained that Belizean law allows personal possession of up
to 10 grams of cannabis but treats importing it as a separate offence.[2]Citing their guilty pleas, lack of prior convictions and the small amounts, the
magistrate imposed a non-custodial sentence.[2]Each woman was fined $300 plus
$5 in court costs, $915 in total, to be paid immediately or serve three months
in prison.[2]They paid their fines, were released and went on with their
vacation, joining a fourth friend who had not been detained.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Arrested
3
Charged
3
Cannabis
32.76 g
Fine
BZD 900
Agency
Belize Police
Agency type
Police
Cannabis
Herbal cannabis (32.76 g)
Activity
Smuggling
Setting
Airport
Charge
importation of a controlled drug
Case stage
Sentenced
Sentence
Fine
Region
Belize District
Route
New York, United States → Belize
Sources
WIC Newswicnews.comThree American women detained at Belize’s PGIA for bringing cannabis on JetBlue Flight
Love FMlovefm.comThree US Tourists Fined for Importing Marijuana at PGIA
The article reports no separate filing date for the charge; 20 August 2025 is the airport stop and seizure, and the women were charged and sentenced on 21 August 2025.
Love FM gives one combined $300 fine for each woman without naming the currency; it is recorded as Belize dollars, the currency in which Belize courts report fines.
Neither account names the total weight, which is the sum of the three seized amounts stated by police (0.03276 kg).
No street value was published for the cannabis.
WIC News spells the three women's middle names and home cities, which are not repeated here.
The total fine of $915 is the sum of the three $300 fines and the three $5 court costs stated by Love FM.
Orlando Anthony Fisher, 65, pleaded guilty to possession of 61 grams of cannabis with intent to supply in Belize City. The magistrate sentenced him to three months in prison, his sixth drug conviction after five previous drug offenses.
Evan Michael Gillett pleaded guilty after police found 1,295 g of cannabis at a Belize City residence. The court suspended his 21-month prison term for two years and fined him $6,000.
Charged 2Cannabis 1.295 kgPrison 1 year 9 months (suspended for 2 years)Fine BZD 6,000
American visitor Gia Fields was caught at Philip Goldson International Airport with 52 grams of cannabis hidden on her body after arriving from Atlanta. She pleaded guilty to importation of a controlled drug and was fined $1,500.
A 31-year-old New York man was arrested at Philip Goldson International Airport on 10 September 2025 with 53 grams of marijuana in his luggage on an American Airlines flight. He pleaded guilty to importation of a controlled drug and was fined $2,000 plus $5 in costs, with one year in prison if he did not pay.
