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BDF Says Civilians Shooting In Chiquibul Was Justified
posted (March 8, 2016)
On Friday, we told you about the shootout between a BDF patrol and 2 Guatemalans in the Chiquibul National Park. The BDF soldiers say they were forced to shoot one of the Guatemalans in self-defence.

The BDF told us that this law enforcement team, which consisted of BDF soldiers and FCD Rangers, were in the Cebada area of the Chiquibul. They were conducting a patrol to destroy several marijuana plantations which had been detected on an overflight of the area.

So, on Thursday, this joint-forces team went into the area on foot. They found the 2 plantations and destroyed the marijuana plants without incident. While traveling through the area, the officers came upon another field with a thatched shed, about 600 meters from the Western Border, and in Belizean territory.

While approaching that shed, the patrol heard persons talking. They went closer to inspect, and that's when someone fired a gunshot at them. The team took cover, fired a warning shot in the air and told the men who they were. That's when a Guatemalan, later identified to be 51 year-old Francisco Torres Sucup, a resident of San Francisco Peten, ran out of the thatch armed with a handgun. He fired at the officers, and they responded by shooting him in the leg. He fell to the ground, and that's when his companion ran out with a shotgun. That second man, later identified as 56 year-old Guatemalan Luis Diaz Alballeros, a resident of Santa Ana, Peten, was easily subdued by the BDF without incident because the patrol had him surrounded.

The officers recovered the two illegal weapons from the men, a 9mm pistol and a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, along with 15 live 12-gauge cartridges, and 24 live rounds of 9mm ammunition. The marijuana plants were then uprooted and destroyed, and the BDF escorted the 2 men out of the area to the San Ignacio Police Station. That proved to be a long and difficult journey because the soldiers had to carry the injured Guatemalan Civilian. They arrived on Saturday afternoon, and the 2 Guatemalans were handed over to the San Ignacio Police. Francisco Sucup was taken to the hospital to receive medical treatment, and both men were then arrested and charged with immigration offences.

They were arraigned today before the San Ignacio Magistrate's Court, and they have been remanded. It is expected that they will face additional charges for the shooting, and possibly the marijuana plantation they were found on. There was some speculation that the 9mm pistol that Francisco Torres Sucup allegedly used to try to shoot the BDF soldiers was connected to the murder of Slain Special Constable Danny Conorquie, but police have verified that it is not. Sources tell us that these men may be investigated for the murder of Special Constable Conorquie. Later on we'll have a comment from the Prime Minister on whether this shooting worsens already tense relations with Guatemala.

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