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They’re not officially the tourism police; but the Tourism Security Task Force - a BDF unit which patrols the rugged Mountain Pine Ridge - protects tourists in that bandit-prone area. Today they got a four wheel upgrade. This afternoon the Mennonite community of Spanish Lookout donated a 2008 Honda TRX420TE to the Belize Tourism Board. It was accepted by the BDF’s Lt. Col. Francis Thomas whose job it is to suppress attacks from cross border bandits.

Lt. Col. Francis Thomas, Tourism Security Task Force
“This ATV definitely will enhance our capability in the Mountain Pine Ridge Area where we have an additional vehicle to be able to respond in the event something should go wrong and also to be able to conduct basically patrols in the nearby areas. We will be able to go in tracks that probably the other vehicles that we have would not be able to go into.”

Allen Reimer,Chairman - Mennonite Community of Spanish Lookout
“Spanish Lookout currently being the only community receiving royalties from the government for petroleum, we have decided that a certain percentage of it goes into a special fund that we want to invest or give away in community projects and when the request came from Ms. Lucy Fleming for an ATV, a very high percentage at the meeting approved to donate it, to support it.”

The Tourism Task Force was formed in May of 2006 after numerous attacks by the Chiquibul bandits - a group of cross border criminals from Guatemala.