SOE Follows Trinibad Fallout and Attack on Roaring Creek Police Station

Another state of emergency is in effect for neighborhoods on the north and south sides of Belize City.  It is the second S.O.E. within the past six months in an attempt to arrest the spike in violent crimes carried out by feuding gangs.  Earlier today, simultaneous operations were conducted in the Victoria Street area, Lake Independence and other parts of the city where several individuals were rounded up under the latest emergency declaration.  The Commissioner of Police is on record blaming a recent concert for the rash of gang-related shootings and murders within the past week.  The Leader of the Opposition roundly criticizes the ComPol’s approach and says don’t blame the violence on music and entertainment.  Tonight, a handful of alleged gang members is in police custody and if the commissioner has his way, they will remain on lockdown at the Belize Central Prison for the next three months.  We begin our newscast tonight with a report from Isani Cayetano.

 

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

This morning, teams of law enforcement officers swarmed around various neighborhoods in Belize City, including Lake Independence, where another state of emergency has come into effect.  The S.O.E. comes hard on the heels of a violent weekend that saw a deadly attack on two men inside a vehicle on Mahogany Street.  Several days earlier, in a separate shooting incident, another individual was murdered near La Croix Boulevard.

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“This morning, the police department launched a state of emergency on south side Belize City, as well as over on north side, Victoria Street, including that entire Jungle area. So, this morning, as you see, the police are out in full force, along with members of the Belize Defense Force, and we are pursuing those persons who we want to be detained as part of the S.O.E.”

 

 

 

 

A state of emergency is declared in specific situations to address safety and protection concerns of citizens.  According to the Commissioner of Police, the unabated bloodshed is the spillover from several altercations that occurred on the night of June fifteenth.  Hundreds were in attendance for the Trinibad concert.  In its wake is a flare up of gang violence.

 

 

 

 

Chester Williams

“They had the concert, certain things took place at the concert and there was where everything started.  It spilt over after the concert and then it permeates the city.  We now have to deal with the aftermath of that.”

 

An operation is underway on the streets of Lake-I.  A checkpoint has been set up on Western Avenue where vehicles entering and exiting onto the George Price Highway are inspected.  Since the campaign began, the Belize Police Department has recovered firearms, ammunition, and various quantities of cannabis.

 

Chester Williams

“The police have recovered a number of firearms and ammunition within the Belize District and the Cayo area.  I must say that since we started our operations in the San Ignacio/Santa Elena area the team there has seized about four firearms and a number of ammunition.  So it goes to show the work that the police have been doing in those areas to be able to crack down on the issue of crime.”

 

 

 

In Roaring Creek over the weekend, the police station in that village also came under armed attack when someone produced a forty caliber weapon and let loose a barrage of bullets in the direction of the building, sending a police officer scrambling for cover.  An S.O.E. has also been declared in two western communities, including Cotton Tree Village, as a result of that incident.

 

 

 

 

Chester Williams

“We are in search for that individual.  As I said, we know who he is but we have not been able to locate him.  We are hoping that pretty soon we will be able to do so.  We have gotten additional information, I will not divulge that to the media at this time, surrounding that entire incident.  And so, as soon as the investigation is at a level where we believe we can share certain things with you, then we’ll do so.”

 

 

 

 

Isani Cayetano

“Can you explain to us why Cotton Tree is included in the S.O.E.?”

 

Chester Williams

“We do have a number of elements who are originally from Roaring Creek, but they have moved over and taken up residence in Cotton Tree and those people are among the group of persons who are terrorizing that entire western corridor.  They commit burglaries, robberies, shootings from Cotton Tree all the way to the border area, and so it is important for us to be able to capture those persons as part of the S.O.E.”

 

Back in Belize City, two men have been arrested and charged for murders they allegedly committed.  Among them is a suspect in the Sunday afternoon murder of Stanley Moore.

 

Chester Williams

“We started our operations since yesterday and we have been able to detain a number of persons who were wanted for murders.  As you would see on our media blog we had shared with yesterday, the arrests of two individuals.  One was arrested for the murder of Elwin Lewis which took place a couple months ago.  That person had been on the run for a number of months from us and we were able to locate him yesterday.  And we also charged, I think, Marquis Conorquie for the murder of the guy Moore who was killed on Sunday during the day.  So those two individuals were captured as part of this operation and we have also detained a number of other persons who the GI3 will be looking at for gang investigation and a number of persons who are wanted by C.I.B. for different investigations as well.”

 

Isani Cayetano for News Five.