2024-06-25 - Channel 5 Belize

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.

Opposition Leader Slams Government for Crime Rate

Following the state of emergency declaration, the Leader of the Opposition, slammed the government for what he describes as having no solution to the increasing crime rate. This afternoon, Shyne Barrow also said his party has been suggesting a change at the helm of the police department for quite some time. He pointed to the increase in murder rate, compared to last year, and criticized the Commissioner of Police for blaming the Trinibad concert for the recent gun violence.

Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition

“You have the commissioner of police blaming music as the reason for the current state of emergency. It is music now. It is concerts. It is a DJ Trinibad. He’s the reason that people are killing people, please. This is the reason that Chester has to go. There has been a 45 percent increase in the murder rate. We have 58 murders already, from January to June, whereas last year we had about 40 or maybe 45. And so we have a significant increase in the murder rate. The United Democratic Party has been saying for the last few years that the Prime Minister needed to make adjustments in the Ministry of Police and We stay by that. We have been saying that Chester Williams has reached his expiration date. Milk tastes good, but after a certain date, it is useless. And we are seeing that with the Ministry of Police. They completely lack leadership. They lack leadership. The competence at the two most important positions, which is the ministry, the minister of police, and the commissioner of police. And what we see in Chester Williams is just a defense attorney for the Government of Belize. There is no accountability, there is no willingness to accept shortcomings, there is no willingness to work with stakeholders.”

An Arrest is Made in Stanley Moore’s Murder

Twenty-four- year-old Marquis Anthony Conorquie has been arraigned and remanded to the Belize Central Prison for the murder of thirty-two-year-old Stanley Moore and the attempted murder of twenty-seven-year-old Joshua Gillett. As we reported, on Sunday evening, Moore and Gillett were traveling in a B.M.W. from the direction of Central American Boulevard towards Oleander Street when two men on a motorcycle rode up beside the car. One man on the motorcycle pointed a firearm at the B.M.W. and opened fire. The two men on the motorcycle then drove off towards the direction of Amandala Drive and made good their escape. A wounded Gillett drove himself and Moore to the K.H.M.H. When police arrived at the hospital, Moore was found dead inside the passenger seat of the car, while Gillett was being treated in emergency. Two days after the shooting, police have arrested and charged Marquis Conorque. He was taken to court and read four charges, including murder, attempted murder, use of deadly means of harm and dangerous harm. In court, no plea was taken from Conorquie and, due to the nature of the offenses, bail was denied. He was remanded into custody at the Belize Central Prison until August twenty-sixth. According to police, the main suspect, a twenty-six-year-old man from the Saint Martin De Porres area, remains at large. Conorquie was presently out on bail for robbery. That trial is ongoing.

Second Suspect Charged For “Bobo Youth” Murder, 2 Months Later

Rudolph “Bobo Youth” Lewis was murdered on March twenty-second. Tonight, a second suspect is behind bars in connection with his shooting death. Twenty-one-year-old Robert Arnold was brought before the Magistrates Court where he was read a single charge of murder. Arnold is now charged jointly with twenty-two-year-old Travis Herbert who was first arraigned on May sixth. In court today, Arnold was unrepresented and due to the nature of the offense, he was denied bail and remanded into custody at the Belize Central Prison until July fifth. That is also the date that Herbert will appear in court for a second time since being arraigned for murder. As we reported, on March twenty-second, Lewis was riding his motorcycle from the direction of Elston Kerr Street towards Central American Boulevard when two male persons on a motorcycle came from behind him and fired several shots in his direction. Lewis later succumbed to the injuries he sustained, while being treated at the K.H.M.H. The murder scene was visited by Scenes of Crime Personnel, where expended shells were recovered from the scene, along with a green Lifan motorcycle. Police also viewed several video surveillance footages in the immediate area and footage was retrieved as evidence. Witness statements positively identified Travis Herbert as one of the men riding on the motorcycle from which the gunshots were fired.

Why was Doris Grant Charged for Gang Involvement?

Reggae Street resident Doris Grant and her common-law husband, Austin Underwood, were arrested and charged last week for being members of a gang. The couple was arraigned and remanded to the Belize Central Prison after being denied bail in the lower courts several days after they came under gunfire while returning home from the Trinibad concert. But what brought about the charges for the embattled businesswoman and her common-law? Here’s how ComPol Williams responded to that question.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“The GI3 has a responsibility or a mandate to investigate every person who we believe are members of any criminal gangs in Belize. They did their investigation, they had their evidence and they brought the charges. The matter is now before the court and I’ll leave it at that.”

Will Accused Murderer Ellis Meighan be Deported to Belize?

Suspected murderer Ellis Meighan remains in the United States where he is seeking asylum. Meighan fled to the U.S. after reportedly killing Placencia resident Roy Lee Burgess and severely injuring Maia James during a shooting incident along the Placencia Road on April fourteenth. Efforts are being made by the Belize Police Department to have him repatriated and stand trial for murder.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“We have submitted every required documentation to our counterparts in the US, including the wanted poster, the arrest warrant and a number of other documents. They have acknowledged receiving those documents and so I believe that they are just going to go through the asylum process because I think he’s claiming asylum and once that is rejected then he should be returned to Belize and once he returns to Belize we have everything prepared for him to be charged for murder.”

No Arrests in Roaring Creek Armed Assault

The Belize Police Department is yet to make an arrest following a shooting incident in Roaring Creek that saw the police station in that village come under heavy gunfire. The Commissioner of Police says they know who they are looking for, but are yet to catch up with the alleged perpetrator who opened fire on the building, sending P.C. Amin Leslie diving for cover. But what led to the brazen shooting, a first-of-its-kind attack on a police department? Here’s more from Commissioner of Police Chester Williams.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“A person may do things for various reasons. We don’t know yet what’s the reason, we have a basic idea, but to say that it’s an anti-police sentiment, I would not go that far. But I will agree with you that it must be condemned to its greatest and the person who is responsible or persons responsible must be brought to justice and we are going to make sure that we do what we can to have that happen. We are concerned, our police station was shot up. That’s like our house. Our police officer’s life was put in danger, but I’m not going to make it more sensational for you. What the media wants is to make it more sensational to make the police look bad. I’m not going to play into your games, I’m not going to do that. As I said before, we condemn it to its strongest terms and all of us as a society, including the media should condemn it to its strongest term. We cannot do things or say things that are going to make criminals feel like we’re glorifying them because that is what propels them to do the things that they do. The fact that you saw the number of operations in Roaring Creek yesterday, the fact that we called an SOE for Roaring Creek, it shows that we are not taking this for granted and we are going hard after those persons who are responsible.

Reporter

“Was it the station that was targeted or was it PC Leslie in particular?”

Chester Williams

“At this time we don’t know, we have done interviews with PC Leslie to try and verify from him if it he had any personal issue with anybody per se. That interview yield that there is no one he believed that would have been able to do that. So we are looking at just maybe a random act, someone who just want to create a scenario for themselves. And so, that’s how the investigation is looking at this time. Had we just left Roaring Creek and not Cotton Tree then they could always say that they no longer live in Roaring Creek but now live in Cotton Tree and detaining them would be a violation of their rights. So capturing Cotton Tree brings them into the fray and makes it better for us to be able to deal with them.”

Willoughby Marries Political Rival’s Daughter; Removed as Standard Bearer

Former Port Loyola Representative, Anthony “Boots” Martinez has been making strides to get the P.U.P. Area Representative in that area, Gilroy Usher removed through the court system. The U.D.P. had Phillip Willoughby as its standard bearer in the area since Usher’s victory. But the party is looking for someone else to represent it at the next general elections. That’s because during a recent meeting of the U.D.P.’s leadership and executive bodies, a decision was taken to remove Willoughby from that position. Willoughby recently got married, and reports are that it was Barrow who sponsored the wedding rings. But the person who Willoughby married is the daughter of his political rival in Port Loyola, Gilroy Usher. And when the news broke it came to the party leader as a surprise. Today, Leader of the Opposition Barrow said that this revelation, along with Willoughby omitting that bit of information when he shared the news is something he should not have done.

Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition

“The decision was not a unilateral decision at all by any means, but I certainly was disheartened. I was disappointed because I had stood up for Mr. Willoughby when he received massive criticism after the extremely poor performance, very much in the municipals, and I was going to stick with him and see him through to the general elections. But, when the news came out, coupled with the omission, you saw the information that he mentioned everything except that it was the daughter of his opponent, which I would think, definitely something he would want to tell the leader of his party. And regardless of whether I was generous or not to help him with the wedding ring I would. I think as the leader of the party, it would certainly be something, if you’re telling me that you’re getting married, you might want to mention that part. But I took the matter to the cabinet, because he used to serve in the cabinet, and unanimous, everybody said that there’s a conflict of interest there. This is not – I’m not saying that Philip is a bad person, or, I don’t, I’m not here to condemn him or crucify him, I’m just saying there’s a conflict there. And we can’t take the risk. It’s just a matter of risk management. And certainly, all of us feel that omitting the information definitely casts a cloud of suspicion that just cannot be removed because, like, why?

We don’t even understand why you did it. We don’t even understand anything about it. Like, you said, it’s unprecedented. But if there were a benefit of the doubt to be given, it would have been given at that point. And he could have said, this is what it is, man. Please understand. This da Romeo and Juliet and walk me mentally through it so that when we got to that point, I would have stood up for him possibly, the way that I stood up for him on the other situations where he was under attack but there was nothing that I could do. I call him Philco, I called him, and told him do the right thing brother, nuh put the party through this. I’m not upset, with Phillip I don’t have any grievances with Philip. Maybe he does with me, but I don’t have any problem. I wish them well, and I’m happy to have contributed to the wedding ring, and I hope that they live happily ever after.”

U.D.P. Needs Manuel Heredia’s Support to Win B.R.S.

While the U.D.P. looks for a new standard bearer to represent the party in Port Loyola for the next general elections, out in Belize Rural South, the Leader of the Opposition is banking heavily on the support of the party’s former area representative, Manuel Heredia to take that seat from the P.U.P.’s Andre Perez. Barrow said that they must do what is in the best interest of the U.D.P. and they are relying on whoever Heredia recommends, and maybe the party holds a convention if there are other candidates in that constituency.

Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition

“We had a situation in Belize Rural South and the candidate had to be moved. We voted for the candidate to be moved and then we need to move forward. So certainly I played a role as far as going to the constituency and meeting with very many members of the executive past and present, including Manuel Heredia. And so no one is mentioning that the crooks of the matter with Belize Rural South. No one is icing Mr. Guerrero. He has applied. But what happened is no one else was allowed to apply. There was a rush to fill the vacancy and at the objection and protests of people like Manuel Heredia, who I will say right here and right now, we cannot win Belize Rural South without the support of Manuel Heredia, bottom line, and I want to win. Andre Perez – the weakest candidate of the P.U.P.s, he and Usher are neck and neck. We can definitely win in Belize Rural South, but we cannot do that without the support of the former minister. We have to do what is in the best interest of the party in order to win in the Belize Rural South constituency. And so the fact that Mr. Guerrero was not sworn in allowed for us to correct the error and open up the application. It is not that Mr. Guerrero, his application is there, but now, the former minister and whoever he thinks will be the best candidate and anybody else in Belize Rural South that is a member of the United Democratic Party can now apply and we may have a convention.”

L.O.O. Criticizes G.O.B. on Coastal Road Breakage

The Leader of the Opposition also spoke about the recent breakage in some sections of the Coastal Plain Highway. Last week, portions of the road washed away under heavy rains. Notably, the Coastal Plain Highway was opened less than a year ago. Today, Barrow said the Opposition was shocked at the

deterioration, but blamed it on the government for compromising quality for savings.

Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition

“What was so appalling about it, the P.U.P. immediately put out an ad saying climate resilience and just completely dishonest. But what this highlights is all smoke and mirrors. They said that they were cutting costs, what they were doing was cutting quality, just to try to say that they were doing something special and they were implementing cost saving measures, but you don’t cut costs at the risk of what we’re having now, which is that the infrastructure is washing away. And so this is shameful P.U.P. tactics. which is it was more important for them and then you know, you hear about all types of corruption in infrastructure. Even the current minister of infrastructure, when he was in opposition and he and his prime minister, they claim that so much corruption was happening in the infrastructure ministry. With the lack of transparency, the lack of opening the pay stream, the lack of transparency, procurement measures tendering that is happening at infrastructure that they get like 200 million dollars every budget. We don’t know where that money is going, how it’s being spent, and whether we’re getting quality. I know we see that we have a quality issue, where the coastal road is concerned, and I would not blame it on the contractor. I would blame it on the government that forced the contractor to deliver. Outside of the agreed upon quantum that it would have taken to get it done where it would be climate resilient.”