On Wednesday night, we told you about an operation carried out by the Special Patrol Unit on an island off the coast of Belize City. The organized action of the Belize Police Department to locate several gang members who fled from the Lake Independence area amid a state of emergency turned up more than just three men on Saint George’s Caye. S.P.U. personnel also discovered a quantity of illegal drugs, as well as a cache of high caliber weapons. This morning around nine o’clock, Edwin “Drive” Flowers, Gaston Barrow, and Kenyon Dominguez were escorted to the magistrate’s court after being taken into custody overnight. The trio, including Flowers, who is a ranking member of the Peace in the Village gang, is accused of having in its possession over twelve thousand grams of cannabis, two thousand, three hundred grams of cocaine, three high-powered rifles and two handguns. The men appeared unrepresented before a senior magistrate where they were charged jointly with two counts of possession of firearm and kept ammunition, as well as four counts of drug-related charges. Due to the nature of the offenses, bail was denied and Flowers, Barrow, and Dominguez were transported to the Belize Central Prison. However, prior to being taken away, Flowers sought permission to address the court and inquired how quickly a trial date can be scheduled for the pending matter. He was informed that the prosecution must first produce a case file which will be provided to them as part of the disclosure before a trial date is set. The men are on remand until July twenty-second when they will return to court.
Tag: 2024-04-18
Musa Says Illegal Weapons Cache is the Largest He’s Seen
Late this afternoon, Home Affairs Minister Kareem Musa touched briefly on the drugs and weapons bust carried out by the police department. He says it is arguably the largest supply of illegal weapons confiscated by law enforcement that he has seen in recent history. While Musa commended the S.P.U. officers for a job well done, he was unclear whether the operation also included assistance from the Belize Coast Guard.
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
“I am aware that the police made perhaps one of the biggest busts of high-powered firearms in the history of this country. I haven’t seen such a cache of high-powered firearms altogether at once, so I want to commend the police on their bust yesterday. In addition to that, a substantial quantity of cannabis and a substantial quantity of cocaine, as well, and so I think it deserves commending.”
Reporter
“Sir, did they collaborate with the coast guard, though, in tracking down this island?”
Kareem Musa
“To my knowledge, no, but I believe they did have a captain who may have taken them, who may have been attached to another department. I can’t say if it’s coast guard or not.”
Will SOE be Extended Beyond April?
The existing state of emergency comes to an end next Friday, but Cabinet is discussing the likelihood of extending the SOE for a few more weeks. Despite strong criticism regarding the effectiveness of the recent measure, the Minister of Home Affairs maintains that the SOE has been successful in ferreting out known gang members, as well as their supply of drugs and weapons.
Reporter
“Will the SOE be extended? The commissioner is asking for that.”
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
“I believe the SOE expires next week, I believe next week Friday or so. Those are discussions that we are currently having at the Cabinet level and you will know soon enough whether that decision will be made. But I will not disclose that at this time.”
Reporter
“The commissioner has alluded to many limitations of the SOE because he’s saying the investigation into these individuals is continuing and they would want to be able to put them away for a very long time, but lack of evidence, that’s the issue.”
Kareem Musa
“I don’t know in what particular situation you’re referring to.”
Reporter
“The murders that triggered the SOE. He’s saying that, you know, we have all these detainees and yoh have to have something fi pin pan dehn and put them away fi long.”
Kareem Musa
“Yes, so if it is that you are going to be charging any of the individuals, for instance, the particular SOE, if you look at it, has had great success in that it snuffed out, it flushed out the actors from PIV that took all of their stash to an island. And so, we were able to flush them out and identify all of these high-powered weapons and taking them off the streets, saving many lives. And so, those individuals will be charged. The investigation in relation to the two murders, those are ongoing. Whether there is an SOE or not, those investigations will continue.”
Darrel Grant Handed Life Sentence for a Second Time
Today, a man was handed a life sentence in prison with a fixed term of thirty years for the murder of thirty-nine-year-old Sandra Ruiz. He is thirty-seven-year-old Darrel Grant, who was convicted for the 2008 murder of the Belize City resident and mother of two. Reports are that Ruiz was inside her residence in Kings Park when an adult male forcibly entered her home. He then proceeded to sexually assault Ruiz before bludgeoning her to death with a hammer. At the time of the attack, Ruiz’s two young daughters were at home, a thirteen-year-old and a six-year-old. The older of the two was able to escape the building before she could be harmed, however, the younger girl was found and attacked. Fortunately, she survived but was left in a coma for several days following the incident. In 2010, Grant was found guilty and handed a life sentence, after he was found wearing Ruiz’s necklace a few days after the incident. Today, Grant appeared before the court for resentencing and was again given a life sentence. In an apology from Grant, he said, (quote), I am sorry for what I did, I was young and immature, I am sorry to her family and for the pain to my family. I am sorry for what I did. I know I can’t bring back Miss Sandra’s life, (end quote). However, Justice Nigel Pilgrim noted that as Grant was twenty-two-years-old at the time of the murder, he was at a mature enough age to be held responsible for his actions. Pilgrim also considered the impact statement from Ruiz’s family members in mitigation. Ruiz’s eldest daughter said that following the death of her mother, she had to abandon her life in Belize and live with her father in another country in fear of her life. While Ruiz’s brother stated that no time in prison would ever bring back his sister.
Charges Withdrawn from Exhibit Keeper in Weed Gummies Case
Back in May 2023, Mario Bustillos, an exhibit keeper for the Belize Police Department, was slapped with ten charges of negligent harm after Belize City primary school children and an adult consumed cannabis-infused candies. Bustillos was accused of exceeding his authority by improperly disposing of the weed candies, which were labelled as found property. Bustillos did not enter a plea at that time, as the matter is being addressed through an indictment. However, News Five learned today that those ten charges were withdrawn in October 2023, six months after the incident. He now faces a new charge of willful suppression. His attorney, Nazira Myles Espat, told the court today that the compact disc provided by the prosecution is not functioning. The preliminary inquiry has been adjourned to May third, pending resolution of these technical difficulties. Bustillos remains on interdiction.
Police/BERT to Collaborate on Transporting Wounded Persons
There was public outcry after Pinks Alley resident, Michael Usher was shot and left for dead on the sidewalk on Flamboyant Street, until an ambulance arrived to take him to the hospital. Residents of the area who showed up at the scene condemned the police for leaving the critically wounded victim there. Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams told the media that it is a catch twenty-two where the police take the heat whether they do or do not move the victim for medical assistance. He explained the rationale behind not taking patients to the hospital, as well as a new policy that is needed going forward between the police department and emergency responders on how to manage these types of situations where people’s lives hang in the balance.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“There are two schools of thought when it comes to police transporting injured persons to the hospital from a crime scene. One school of thought is that the police should not do that because transporting a critically injured person requires that the person must be undergoing some medical treatment along the way to the hospital. The other one is that the police should do so in cases where the ambulance is going to take a long time to reach. And if the incident is not too far from the hospital, then the police should be able to transport the injured person. We have had instances where we would transport the person or persons to hospital, where it’s a long distance and the ambulance would take a very long time to come, and the ambulance and the police would then meet along the way and then the police would transfer the injured person to the ambulance and then the ambulance carries the person forward. My thing is we’re damned if you do and damn if you don’t. If the police had picked up the young man and taken him to the hospital and he died along the way, then you’d have heard that the police caused his death still, so there’s nothing that we could have done that would have avoided us from getting the blame. I think that there is a need for us to do a more comprehensive research and then perhaps Let’s join with the EMT personnel and see how we can develop a more reasonable policy, because the truth is whenever we transport injured persons to the hospital, we take a flogging from the EMT personnel. They’re saying that we should not, and to some extent I would want to agree with them, and to some extent, I would not want to agree with them. But there is a need for us to develop a policy that is going to be reasonable, and I think the policy should be that in situations where the person is extremely, injured and the hospital is nearby, then we should take that person. In cases where the person is injured and the hospital is quite a distance away, then we can transport the person and then we meet up with the ambulance along the way and transfer that injured person to the ambulance for them to be able to take the person to the rest of the way to the hospital. So just give us some time to sit down and reason out this issue and I’m sure that we’re going to come up with a more reasonable solution to be able to meet, in the event that there is any future occurrence, that we’ll be able to deal with in a more different manner.”
Minister Musa Says Police Need EMT Training
Minister of Home Affairs, Kareem Musa, readily admitted that it would require additional training for police officers to know how to properly move and handle injured victims. But he does hold the personal view that victims should be transported as soon as possible for medical attention.
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
“We have 2,300, now 2,400 sorry, around 2,500 police officers with the graduating class coming out tomorrow, and definitely looking at training moving forward like you’re rightly saying, that perhaps we have to give them greater training when it comes to E.M.T services. If someone appears to have life, you should take him to the hospital. That is my personal opinion, regardless of the fact that you will be blamed afterwards for taking him to the hospital, to me it is better to err on the side of caution and take that individual to the hospital.”
ComPol Says Police Are Equipped to Transport Bodies for Autopsies
From time to time, the police are blamed for not having adequate transportation resources, particularly in the rural areas, to respond to an incident until long after the situation has played out. Currently, a man whose wife has died in Toledo is laying blame on the police for not being able to bury his loved one because he is repeatedly told that the police do not have a vehicle to transport the body to Ladyville for a post-mortem examination. When he spoke with the media on Wednesday, Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams apologized to the family and said he would look into the matter.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“I have to apologize to Mr. Choco as you brought that up just a while ago. He did call me yesterday and made a complaint to me and I had promised him that I was going to make some calls and get back to him. But I had been extremely busy and I totally forgot until you mentioned it just a while ago. But I’m going to do that now as I get through from here to see how I can arrange to have his mother transported to Belize City to…”
Reporter
“His wife…”
Chester Williams
“The one who called me was a son, one of them had called me – to have his mother transported to Belize City for the postmortem. We don’t control postmortems. Many people believe that it’s the police department that controls when postmortems are going to be conducted. But that is done by the National Forensic Service, which is a totally different department. We have no control over that. Mr Cho is the head. I know that the National Forensic Service do have a lot of work. We have a number of sudden deaths, then we have murders, then we have persons who die in traffic accidents. And so their hands are extremely full. I can say that. Perhaps that’s the reason why the body is being held up.”
Reporter
“But Mr. Cho told me, “you can contact the police to get a comment about their – the police’s lack of mobiles to transport bodies from P.G. since last week.”
Chester Williams
“That should be no excuse, Jules. If that is the case, it should be no excuse. P.G. police do have mobile and they should be able to transport the body.”
Head of National Science Lab Says They Have Backlogs
The process of completing postmortem examinations and the timeliness of doing so has also been an issue for families who must wait for a week or longer to get the autopsies of their loved ones. When this happens, it slows down the burial process for those families. Today, Executive Director of the National Forensics Science Service, Gian Cho explained that sometimes they experience a backlog of cases and it has to do with a shortage of personnel.
Gian Cho, Executive Director, National Forensics Science Service
“I would say we’re experiencing backlogs not only because of the higher caseload, and also because one of our medical examiners retired in February, and we’re actively working on trying to fill that vacancy. Vacancies aren’t filled overnight, alright. You have to make sure you get them properly trained, qualified individual. So we went from three medical examiners down to two – two medical examiners on duty. But the particular case this week was really unfortunate because we actually were scheduling the case from last week to do the autopsy – I think it was April 10th. Unfortunately, the police vehicles that were used to transport patients’ bodies from the south of the country were, I believe under repairs or at the mechanic for repairs. So the police actually asked us: “We don’t have the vehicle to transport the cadaver to the morgue all the way here in Ladyville. Can you please postpone?” So the autopsy would have been done from last week if we had the transportation. It’s regrettable, though, that sometimes the communication is not as it should be ‘cause If the police vehicle is down, which we understand, vehicles have mechanical issues, sometimes families would offer, if they have the resources because they would still need to travel to the morgue to I.D the body to receive after the postmortem. So it highlights the need for not only more resources for cadaver transport, cadaver storage, but closer communication with families, with grieving families.”
Encouraging Travel to Panama
The Panamanian Embassy is inviting more Belizeans to travel to Panama. The Central American nation is a popular transit point for Belizeans travelling to Latin America and the Caribbean. Belizeans are not required to have a visa when travelling to Panama. Today, the embassy, in collaboration with COPA Airline, held an educational workshop to provide information on the many sites and adventures Panama has to offer to visitors who plan to visit. News Five’s Paul Lopez was at the event. He filed the following report.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
There are many places to see and things to do in Panama, from visiting the Panama Canal, to stops at the numerous museums, snorkeling, cultural experiences and so much more. This Central American country is only an hour and a half from Belize by air. This morning, the Panamanian Embassy, together with Copa Airlines, held an educational workshop with a purpose to increase Belizean travel to its shores.
Lorena Correal, Travel Trade Director. PROMTUR
“I can imagine you have heard about Panama, our modern city, our canal, or our tax free zone but today I will go deeper into our country to the other provinces or all the experiences you can have while visiting our country.”
“Our country is quite small which makes it perfect to visit many places in a short amount of time. Also we have great transportation. We are one of the only countries in Latin America that has an underground metro that even goes to the airport, making it easy for people to travel to our country. When visiting Panama you can check off your bucket list and visit the Panama Canal. You can visit one of our two visitors center, experiencing what millions of boats experiences while visiting the canal. You can also visit our museum which is not only beautiful on the inside but on the outside. We go to the province of Los Santos. This area of the country is the cradle of our culture. This area is where the artists still live and practice their craft. This area also hosts most of the important cultural events like carnivals or even the celebration of our beautiful national dress. Getting their can take you five hours by car or a flight of thirty minutes. This area is very precious for divers, snorkels and it is blessed by the visit of the humpback whales from July to October and also seven species of turtles.”
Lorena Correal
“I want to say I am very pleased to be here in Belize City to share with our agencies and tour operators and today was to inspire your tour operators to recommend our destination to Belizeans. We want you to come explore our country, our beautiful city and priority destinations. We collaborate with COPA Airlines, its Panama’s national airlines. And we work with them, to invite more visitors to our country. And, one of those strategies is the stop over program that allows visitors to visit two destinations with one ticket. So visitors would have to book their rickets in advance with he stop over program and they can stay in Panama for one to seven days, with no additional cost on their airfare.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.