In a devastating turn of events that has stacked tragedy on top of grief, a long-time meat vendor at Belize City’s Michael Finnegan Market has been forcibly locked out of his two market stalls just one day after an employee at his shop was shot and killed.
Aaron Castillo, who has run Jun’s Meat Shop at the municipal market for more than 20 years, building on his father’s legacy in the space, was still processing the fatal shooting of his worker on Monday when he faced an unexpected second blow on Tuesday. When Belize City Council enforcement officers arrived to change the locks on both of his booths, Castillo says he had received no formal eviction notice, no final warning, and no advance heads-up that the action would be taken.
The council has stated the lockout stems from unpaid 2026 trade license fees, but Castillo pushes back on the timing and the abrupt action, noting he had already negotiated a structured payment plan with the local government to settle the outstanding balance gradually through the court system. He does not dispute that he owes the fees, but he says he has physical receipts to prove he has already begun making installment payments under the agreed terms.
“They just came by force and locked me down,” Castillo told reporters, describing the sudden enforcement action. “I told them we have an agreement; why would you lock me down? They can see I am making payments, so there was no reason to still lock me down.”
The brutal timing of the lockout has compounded Castillo’s hardship, as the small business owner is already facing looming back-to-school costs for his family along with ongoing daily household and business expenses. For Castillo, the shutdown does not just threaten his decades-long business — it puts his entire livelihood at risk, at a moment when he is already reeling from the violent death of his employee.
“I told them I have bills to pay, mouths to feed, and school is opening right now,” he said. “They are taking everything from me. I don’t see what they’re doing to me as fair.”
Castillo claims the lockout is part of an underhanded effort to take his two long-held stall spots away to hand them over to other vendors, a move he calls unjust after decades of operating in the market and serving the local community. He is now calling for senior government officials to intervene to reverse the lockout and resolve the dispute, and he has demanded the immediate departure of the Michael Finnegan Market manager over the handling of his case.