The Customs building adjoining the Port of Belize at the end of Caesar
Ridge Road in Belize City is the national headquarters for that most important
government department. Important because it is the government’s single
largest revenue earner – just shy of $240 million a year and also has
critical enforcement duties at the sovereign port and along Belize’s borders.
And that’s why it is quite remarkable to consider that tonight the walls
of that headquarter building are riddled with bullet holes fired from an automatic
assault rifle by intruders believed to be associated with a powerful street
gang and they were looking to burglarize the Customs weapon cache.
It is brazen almost beyond belief and has all the signs of an inside
job which suggests that the customs department’s security is seriously
– even dangerously compromised. Many weighty questions arise. And I went
looking for answers today.
Jacqueline Godwin Reporting,
These bullet holes in the wall of the corridor and the shattered front door
tell of the drama that unfolded inside the national Customs headquarters early
Thursday morning. Around three forty five on September tenth several gunshots
were fired inside the building. A Customs security guard who was on duty on
the ground floor saw an armed man with a dark rag covering his face. The suspect
opened fire with an m-16 rifle and the law enforcement officer returned fire
Customs officials are not talking to the media but what we understand the gunshots
damaged the inside of the building. More specifically we understand it was a
glass door. Luckily the Customs security guard who fired at the gunman was not
injured.
But the armed gunman was not alone. The police responded quickly and managed
to locate two of the intruders. One of the suspects has been identified as 24
year old Brian Young was found hiding in a bathroom on the second floor while
the other suspect identified as 24 year old Alpheus Nicolas was found inside
a security booth on the ground floor. Unconfirmed reports are that the gunmen
entered the building by using a key. But from all indications the incident was
as a result of a inside job.
At the scene police recovered an AK 47 file with one magazine containing twenty
three seven point sixty seven live rounds, five, seven point sixty seven expended
shells. Multiple reports are that the gunmen were after the Customs armoury.
Inside the building police found a bag containing a crowbar, duct tape, and
pliers. Police say at this time they have five persons in custody pending the
investigation of aggravated burglary
Customs officials have confirmed that a Customs security and a Customs
guard have been detained. We understand that the Customs security guard was
first investigated in September 2008 when six guns went missing from the Customs
warehouse.
At news time, no one had been charged. As we said, we know that the
man found in the building is detained, as is the man intercepted up the street.
A security guard is also detained along with a customs guard. That Customs guard
was also a suspect in December of 2008 when 6 guns were stolen from the Queen’s
Bond warehouse. Sources tell us there is also a possible family tie-in between
this guard and a female customs officer. Police are trying to tie up these many
loose ends – but still, charges were not prepared by this evening.
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