The Belize National Coast Guard – they’re supposed to protect the
seas, intercepting drug runners, hunting down pirates, and roping in vessel
thieves. But what happens when the Coast Guard is the victim of those same vessel
thieves? That’s what we’re finding out tonight as the agency is
recovering from one of the most embarrassing events in its short history.
Commander of the Coast Guard, Captain John Borland today confirmed that one
of the vessels was stolen on Wednesday morning from San Pedro. 7News
has learned that the vessel was docked at a downtown pier in San Pedro and the
team went about their business, failing to leave anyone behind to watch it.
When they came back, it was gone. Captain Borland would not discuss their assignment
or particular responsibilities regarding the security of the vessel.
An intensive search by sea and air was launched yesterday to recover it. By
evening-time those search teams had found the vessel in the area of the Drowned
Cayes which is directly east of Belize City. But guess what? The engines were
gone. It’s the sort of thing that happens quite regularly but not tot
the Coast Guard, the agency that should be catching the vessel thieves, not
falling victim to them.
Borland confirmed that the crew is confined at the Barracks pending a Court
of Inquiry. He declined to answer questions about the value of the engines that
were stolen – but for vessels of the size that the Coast Guard uses, it’s
not uncommon for each engine to cost anywhere upwards of twenty thousand dollars.
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