On Monday, we reported on the two shooting incidents that occurred in Corozal district over the weekend, one of which, was fatal. The first shooting occurred on Saturday night when a man was targeted in his yard and gunned down. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams says the recent act of violence was the result of rivalling groups in the area. The fatal shooting occurred around one thirty a.m. at the Mi Compa Bar in Ranchito Village and is believed to have been spurred by a dispute between two parties. We asked Williams for an update, and he informed us that police have identified the suspects and are seeking them for an arrest.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“The Corozal murder is rather unfortunate. I must say that, again, it is important that the liquor licensing board listen to the police. We had made several attempts to have that bar closed down. It was closed down temporarily for a little while. And the reason we had made those requests was because we foresaw this happening. But again, they were able to get licensed and continue to operate and now this happened. Nonetheless, the police are on top of it. We know who the suspect is and we’re still pursuing that person at this time. We’re hoping to find that person very soon and then we’ll be able to lay charges against that individual. But again, it was a group of persons who had some misunderstanding and that misunderstanding led to the fatal shooting of the victim.”
Britney Gordon
“And there was a shooting not too far away in Parisa Village. Do you know anything about that?”
Chester Williams
“Yes. That shooting, likewise, we know who the person who the person who did that, and we’re looking for that person as well. We believe that may have something to do with our rivaling issue between two, two particular groups in the area.”
Carrot farmers in Orange Walk and Corozal districts will lose all that they have invested in this year’s crop if they are unable to get their produce to market soon. Dozens of acres of carrots remain in the field unharvested, which is uncommon in the north at this time of the year. The Ministry of Agriculture says the market is oversaturated due to unfavorable weather conditions late last year. The Belize Marketing and Development Corporation refutes claims that it is importing carrots currently. The farmers believe that contraband carrots from Mexico have taken their place in the market. News Five’s Paul Lopez traveled north today. He filed the following report.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
2024 has been a difficult year so far for carrot farmers, particularly those in the Orange Walk and Corozal districts. Carrots are not selling at the rate they traditionally would, leaving many farmers with acres of unharvested crops that are starting to go bad.
Sabino Yam
Sabino Yam, Patchakan Farmer
“I guess all the farmers that have carrots right now are basically in the same problem. Basically it is the selling of the carrots we are having problem right now. I have contacted some of my buyers and they are not buying.”
Sabino Yam owns a carrot farm in Patchakan Village in the Corozal District. On a normal year, Yam would have already sold all his carrots on the local market. This year, he has only been able to sell eight sacks of carrots. So, what has led to this shift in the market? The Ministry of Agriculture says there’s a glut of carrots on the local market.
Andrew Mejia
Andrew Mejia, Acting Director of Extensions, Ministry of Agriculture
“The situation we are having now is as a result of what happened last year. During the months from August to October we had a drought preventing the farmers that were to plant early based on the schedule we had created with the Ministry. After that we had an issue with flooding. That compounded the situation. So everybody planted the same time, around the end of November to December.”
To ensure that every farmer gets a fair share of market demands, they take turns planting and harvesting. Carrots in the Cayo District should have already been sold out by now, leaving only carrots from farmers in northern Belize on the market. But that is not the case this year.
William Can
William Can, Agriculture Officer for Cayo District, Ministry of Agriculture
“From the data we have Cayo planted sixty-three acres and from that sixty-three acres at the moment we have around eight acres to manage in the Cayo District so we can safely say that the peak of production in the Cayo District has passed. We will have two to three weeks of production left in Cayo and from that the only two districts left is Corozal and Orange Walk.”
The Ministry of Agriculture says that produce in Cayo should be sold out within a week. That will make space in the market for carrots from Orange Walk and Corozal. But farmers are not sold on the ministry’s explanation. Jose Gonzalez, a farmer in Indian Creek Village is doubtful.
Jose Gonzalez
Jose Gonzalez, Indian Creek Village
“Si, puedo nostros. We have our doubts. We heard that Cayo have carrots. But in the past they use to come buy eighty, a hundred sacks of carrots from us. And now they are just taking twenty, twenty-five sacks. So we have our doubts and think that contraband has something to do with how they are not buying carrots from us right now.”
Carrot farmers are convinced that the illegal importation of vegetables from Mexico is the reason they are facing these challenges. During our visit to a farm in San Carlos, a group of farmers complained bitterly about the negative effects of contraband carrots. While cleaning their produce to take to the market, the men argued that the government is not doing enough to stop contrabandistas. Mejia says the argument about contraband carrots is, to an extent, justified.
Andrew Mejia
“I do believe so and I won’t discredit them. What the Ministry of Agriculture has done is that we are in the process of re-activating our contraband interdiction team, compromised of customs, immigration, police, BAHA to see what is actually happening with this accusation. Otherwise we don’t have any concrete information on that. So until the team is activated we will be able to get a handle on what is happening with that. But I can assure the farmers that the saturation is due to oversupply at this time.”
The Belize Marketing and Development Corporation is also responding to allegations that it has received import permits from the Ministry of Agriculture to bring in carrots from Mexico. B.M.D.C. Is responsible for importing goods that are not available on the local market. Valentin Carillo, the administrator at B.M.D.C., says the last time they imported carrots was in November 2023.
Valentin Carillo
Valentin Carillo, Administrator, B.M.D.C.
“I have heard concerns about the carrots issue and I have also heard that we have License right now. I came here to clear it out. We are not importing carrots from last year November.”
Paul Lopez
“How often during the season?”
Valentin Carillo
“Like last year we had a meeting with the farmers and we put a cut off date. It depends on how the season goes. As if see it right now it will go a month, a month and a half depending on local production.”
Sabino Yam
“It is claimed that they are not giving license to import but still we are seeing Mexican products on the market. So what is happening? That is rhe reason we want to know. But some of the farmers do have evidence that those importers there are bringing stuff through the border. I am from Patchakan. Patchakan is right next to the borderline to Mexico. I can say maybe six four years back there was a lot of contraband. Now I have not seen much. As a result I can conclude that this contraband is passing through the border.”
One man is dead and one injured after shots were fired inside a club in Corozal District over the weekend. Reports are that on Sunday, around one twenty a.m. twenty-four-year-olds Jamour Gabourel and Ethon Galvez were socializing at the Mi Compa Nightclub in Ranchito Village when an argument between ensued that escalated to gun violence. A single shot was fired inside the nightclub, injuring Galvez and fatally wounding Gabourel. The perpetrator then exited the building, firing off one more round before fleeing the scene. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with the full report.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
In the early hours of Sunday morning, the silence in a neighborhood in Ranchito was shattered by reports of gunshots coming from Mi Compa Nightclub. A resident of the area who was awoken by the sounds recounted the incident to us.
Voice of: Ranchito resident
Voice of: Ranchito resident
“It happened like around one twenty a.m. I was sleeping with my baby on site and my mom lives and sleeps over this side. So when she heard the first gunshot, she just grabbed my little brother and sent him to another room. Then she was scared. We all woke up. My sister woke up and she began to cry. She was trembling and we didn’t know what to do.”
She said that the terrifying ordeal lasted around ten minutes before the police arrived at the scene. According to police reports, the incident was caused by an argument.
“On Sunday, the twenty of May, 2024, around one twenty-eight p.m., police responded to a shooting incident at Mi Compa Bar, Ranchito Village, Corozal District. Upon arrival, they found the lifeless body of Jamour Gabourel with a gunshot injury. Also seen was Ethon Galvez with a gunshot injury. Investigators said they were at the bar along with other persons when they got into an argument. At which point, a male person pulled out the firearm and fired a single shot causing the fatal injury to Gabourel and the injury to Ethon Douglas. We are seeking one suspect in regards to this investigation.”
Jamour Gabourel
Gabourel, who was fatally shot during the incident, had been celebrating a friend’s birthday and was at the establishment along with several others when Galvez, who had been standing near him, was targeted.
Voice of: Ranchito resident
“Then we heard the police pass cause we were peeping, kind of hiding us. We just heard the screams of a man shouting. The woman was shouting, why did you do that? And said, don’t touch him, you’re gonna hurt him. Then a while, just all the people gone. We saw the people running, screaming, were afraid of the gunshot. It was two shots they did. Two shots inside Mi Compa. It didn’t happen outside. It happened inside because we heard everything. We woke up because of this noise and the screams. That’s what we heard.”
Ethon Galvez
Witnesses said that there was no security stationed at the nightclub at the time of the incident. It is not the first time a crime of this nature has occurred at this establishment. Currently police are seeking one suspect and are unsure if the victims are familiar with the perpetrator. Galvez is recovering from his injuries, while Gabourel’s family will be hosting a candlelight memorial at the Corozal Central Park on Wednesday. Britney Gordon for News Five.
In another act of gun violence this weekend in Corozal District, a man was shot at his own residence in a targeted attack. On Saturday, around eight p.m. thirty-four-year-old Joel [Ho-el] Sosa was at his home in Paraiso Village when a gunman arrived at his yard and fired up to three shots at him, before fleeing the scene. Here’s A.C.P. Hilberto Romero with more information.
“On Saturday, twenty-sixth of May, 2024, around seven fifty-three, police responded to a shooting at Paraiso Village, Corozal District. Upon arrival, they found Joel Sosa with gunshot injuries. He was taken to a medical facility where he is in a stable condition at this time. Information is that he was at Paraiso Village when a vehicle arrived, a male person came out of that vehicle and fired several shots towards his direction. We are seeking one suspect in regards to this shooting.”
A police officer from Santa Clara Village, Corozal District is serving a two-year sentence at the Belize Central Prison after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a minor. Twenty-seven-year-old Melvin Canul was convicted and sentenced to jail time this morning when he appeared unrepresented in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court. The police constable was accused of squeezing the buttocks of a seventeen-year-old girl back in September 2023. The incident happened near Lopez Mateo Park in the King’s Park area. In her report, the teenager said that shortly after four p.m. on September twelfth, she was at a police booth on 17th Street where she was returning a flag she had borrowed from a cadet instructor. While folding the flag, a Hispanic officer whom she did not know, passed by and squeezed her on the left side of her buttocks. When she turned around, she observed that the policeman was standing behind her. Canul was subsequently arraigned and pleaded not guilty to the charge of sexual assault and was offered and met bail in the sum of three thousand dollars. In court today, Chief Magistrate Jayani Wegodapola found Canul guilty of the charge and sentenced him to two years in prison.
A family is pleading for assistance in locating their loved one who went missing after he left the Jacob’s Farm Rehabilitation Facility in Corozal district. Fifty-year-old James Young was last seen at the facility in Patchakan Village around midday on May sixth, where he had been receiving holistic treatment for substance abuse issues. As persons seeking treatment at the facility can discharge themselves, Young simply left the grounds. According to his family, he has a history of mental illness so they are asking that members of the public refrain from harming him and instead report him to the nearest police station so that he may be reunited with his family. We spoke with Young’s nephew, who provided some more details on the situation.
Kenroy Young
Kenroy Young, Nephew of Missing James Young
“From since last week, Monday, my family and the police department and staff members and some of the Men who live at the facility in Patchakan Village at Jacob’s farm. We have all been intensifying our searches over the past few days this weekend. We did a more intensive search and all in Corozal and Orange Walk and we have turned up nothing. But every day my family members are in Corozal. We go to Orange Walk, we go to the villages in between. There were people saying that they received, we received tips of people seeing him in Corozal town upon the family’s arrival to these locations, it turned out not to be him. I don’t know basically what more to see about him being gone this long because this is not him. Even through all his years of mental illness, he has never done something like this. So I’m just appealing to the Belizean public. If you see him to please call the numbers that are on the bottom of the flyers there for our family members, or you call the nearest police station in the area where you are, because right now we’re at an impasse as to where he is. Because if he was coming to Belize City, because he is from Belize City, from, he used to live on Wagner’s Lane in Belize City, known as Jump Street. And it’s our consensus, if he was leaving from there to come to Belize City, he should be here by now. He’s 50 years old. He’s dark. He’s of dark complexion. He has dark colored eyes. He’s six feet, two inches tall. He wears about one hundred thirty to one hundred forty pounds. And he was last seen wearing a dark blue t-shirt and a dark blue long pants.”
The recent power outages that have affected the areas of the country that are hooked up to the national grid have impacted almost every field of work, at least work that depends on power supply for lighting, cooling or processing purposes. But outdoor work has not been affected much – that is work that requires manual labour. Corozal Southeast Area Representative, Florencio Marin Junior, who represents cane farmers in the sugar belt, says that the recent outages have had little to no impact on their operations.
Florencio Marin, Junior, Area Representative, Corozal Southeast
“Remember it’s agriculture, noh, so they don’t really have that direct need to work. It is in the field, right. Now they’re mostly cutting their cane. Some have begun fertilizing their cane. You don’t really need much electricity for that operation.”
Things are heating up in the Corozal Bay constituency for the People’s United Party. Viewers may recall that back in November 2020, the late David “Dido” Vega was elected to the seat for the People’s United Party. Following his passing, his sister, Elvia Vega-Samos, was elected in a by-election to succeed her brother. But, with the 2025 general elections coming up the People’s United Party has made a call for applications from interested candidates. One such individual is the Chair of the P.U.P. Northern Caucus, Thea Garcia-Ramirez. She has thrown her hat in the ring for the constituency, though the People’s United Party is yet to indicate whether a convention will be held in that area. There are reports, however, that tensions are high between supporters of the sitting area representative and Garcia’s camp. We asked the Corozal Southeast Area Representative, Florencio Marin Junior, about those reports today. He gave a brief response.
Florencio Marin Jr.
Florencio Marin Jr, Area Rep., Corozal Southeast
“The party has a democratic process. Right now we are still in the period where the deadline for all applications is on May twenty-fourth. So when that time finishes we will be able to know for sure what will happen in the Corozal Bay division.”
A man was shot and killed last night in Patchakan Village, Corozal. The victim has been identified as twenty-year-old Benito Canela. Police say that gunshots were heard just before 9 o’clock near the village’s park. Minutes later, police discovered Canela’s body on the ground. He has been shot multiple times.
Investigators say that a man exited a Ford 150 pickup truck and fired several shots at Canela, who was with his wife at the time of the shooting.
