7 News Belize

This Toyota Ain't No Toy
posted (April 28, 2010)
And while we spent much of the day at customs digging into the story, we also got to close up an investigation we've been working on for the past two weeks. That's when we were told about a fully licensed, bulletproof Land Cruiser that had been impounded by customs. The Department has been putting us off for the past two weeks, saying the investigation is ongoing. But tonight, it seems the investigation has reached a dead end and customs agreed to make us videotape the very exotic SUV. Here's the story.

Jules Vasquez Reporting
It looks unremarkable – a 2003 Land Cruiser VX – undamaged if somewhat dirty exterior, tan leather interior, overall good condition with Belize City license plates, the kind of vehicle you might buy at an impound auction - nice but not too fancy – until you examine the windows.

Jules Vasquez Reporting "It's as hard as steel. Incredible."

It's part of a custom-fitted bullet-proof kit. You might not be able to detect it on camera, but the window is sealed with a bullet-proof material – about a half-inch thick which feels completely impenetrable. It's not any recognizable grade of glass – and it makes the doors super heavy to open and shut.

Here's how strong it is. I took a sharp edged stone and slammed it against the glass, that would break any window, but with this one, it just left dings on the tint and had no effect whatsoever on the thick material. Mind you, the outside is glass and that would have shattered form the impact, but the inside material is impenetrable. The body of the vehicle is also fully armoured, making it a very heavy SUV.

Customs says it was stolen from Guatemala in 2006 and they found it in a yard on Faber's Road extension a month ago. And if it was stolen how did it get licensed? Well there was no customs entry, no proof of duty payment, and a fake name on the registration, but customs has concluded it was corruptly licensed at the Belize City Traffic Department.

One more note. The property on Faber's Road Extension where the SUV was found is being rented by a man who told police he rented the home with the SUV on the property and does not have the keys for or any knowledge of it. That person has been twice detained by police – who are satisfied that he could not provide any useful information as to the local owner. In fact, he couldn't even provide a key. The vehicle had to be towed to the customs yard. The Customs Department says they are still interested in finding out who was using it.

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