What he could do
Mateo knew he could not help with the arrest once they had caught up with the criminals. But when he looked at his camera, he realized there was another way he could help.
He was going to share all the footage he had taken with the authorities, and maybe by doing so, he could provide some evidence regarding these criminal activities. This thought would turn out to be very important.
The motherlode
Mateo already had a lot of footage but wanted to get a little more. He filmed the dead coral reef floating next to the boat and added some footage of the killed fish on top of that.
They were painful images to shoot, but Mateo knew it was worth it. But the motherlode of evidence was about to present itself. Mateo turned his camera and spotted the criminal’s fishing boat for the first time.
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Boarding the ship
Captain Diego said that police parked their vessels right next to the mysterious boat and entered simultaneously. Mateo was also allowed to come along to film their findings for evidence.
He only needed to promise that he would stay at a safe distance. Police apprehended the fishermen on board and quickly discovered their cargo space. It was filled with fish, more than Mateo ever saw.
But there was a problem…
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Interrogating the men
The fishermen denied all wrongdoing and told the police they were unaware of any explosions in the area. Their reaction was invigorating to everyone involved, and at first, they thought they would get away with it.
But after the police found explosive charges in a hidden compartment of the boat, they had enough initial evidence to make an arrest. Mateo, of course, documented the entire thing.
And that would prove to be important.
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Key witness
One week later, the day in court arrived. The criminals whore orange jumpers and were chained to their tables. And Mateo was there as well. He was brought in as a key witness in the case since he documented the entire thing.
The illegal fishermen started out the trail with a confident smirk on their faces. But all that confidence faded once Mateo presented the judge with his video evidence.