7 News Belize

The Downside Of Surviving a Honduran Police Execution
posted (October 13, 2010)
24 year old Gabriel Salazar has been Belize's most wanted since the Scotia Bank Armed Robbery in March of this year. He was allegedly one of three armed men who robbed the bank of three hundred thousand dollars and killed the security guard.

He had eluded authorities for 6 months - but was caught in Honduras last week. Actually more than caught, he was marked for execution by border police in that country. We'll get to that story, but first to what happened today.

At 9:30 this morning Salazaar was flown into Belize on a Maya Island Regional flight from San Pedro Sula, Honduras. He had no special escort, but Belize police were waiting to arrest him.

He was taken out of the departure lounge with a police escort, and transferred to the CIB Office in Belize City. We are told that at this hour he is being transferred to the custody of Cayo police where he is expected to face multiple charges - but those still have not been finalized. Those charges could include murder, robbery, and conspiracy to commit robbery. He could be charged as early as Friday.

And while that's where the Belize leg of the story rests tonight - it made dramatic headlines last week when he was caught in in a village called El Sitio De La Union in Copan Honduras.

Salazaar was intercepted along with Alex Edwards and Benjamin Peters - who are all wanted for the Scotia Bank Robbery. They were intercepted by Honduran customs police at the Agua Caliente border station near the Guatemala, Honduras border. According to La Prensa, a Honduran newspaper, all three were detained and then taken from their cells to the village where Police officers tried to execute the trio.

Edwards and Peters were killed but Gabriel Salazar survived. Honduran press reports said that Salazaar was witness to the police execution and he was being held in protective custody. That was September 27th, but apparently things have changed and Salazar has now been returned to Belize.

Apart from the bank heist, Salazar is also wanted as a person of interest in the murder of Big Falls shopkeeper, Francis Johnston in September of 2009.

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