Today saw the end of a saga that began at an illegal airstrip on the Coastal road. On the 9th of September just after midnight police lay in wait as a drug plane carrying 41 bales with 1,210 parcels of cocaine landed, and two vehicles arrived to pick up the incoming narco-cargo.
Police opened fire and a shootout ensued. Eventually 8 foreigners were arrested and charged, and the cocaine was confiscated and rushed to the Raccoon Street station for secure storage.
This morning, 9 days later, it was unpacked and taken to a secret location for destruction. Cherisse Halsall reports from the road.
Cherisse Halsall reporting
A convoy of police vehicles left Belize City this morning for an undisclosed location.
Their mission, the destruction of 1.3 tonnes of cocaine valued at just over 60 Million Belize Dollars. 7 News fell in with the convoy for the journey west and got the rundown on the operation from Assistant COMPOL Marco Vidal
Marco Vidal, Assistant COMPOL, Commander of Operations
"It is customary that when we have large quantities of drugs that we apply to the court in order to destroy the drugs and this is we use the provision under the misuse of drugs act in order to apply so that we can get an order from the court and then destroy the drugs."
"Once the order has been given. We escort the drugs from where it is kept to this location where it is being destroyed. Just over 1300 Kilos of Cocaine that is being destroyed. It is valued at just over 60 million dollars Belize."
"It is burst open so that when it is thrown on the fire it can be consumed rapidly. In order to have transparency we have the magistrate, we have a justice of the peace we have the investigator, and the forensic, to ensure that what is being destroyed is actually the drugs that was recovered."
Drug destructions are an extremely serious business, as one Belmopan businessman learned firsthand today. Mike Menjivar, owner of The La Cabana Nightclub, was traveling west reportedly to pick up medicine from the Melchor border, when he attempted to overtake the police convoy. He was warned against doing so by guns pointed in his direction, but continued his approach in what officers deemed an intimidating manner.
Marco Vidal, Assistant COMPOL, Commander of Operations
"We ensure that we have security more so for the quantity and the person's involved so we do a sweep and in this case the vehicle may have been too close to the convoy and that's one of the reasons why it had to be stopped to check that it is not any threat to the security and to the personnel and the drugs that was being escorted to this area."
Menjivar was released and the rest of the day passed without any other security threat or breach - with a publicity win for the police and a huge loss for some unidentified drug cartel.
The drug destruction started at midday and finished at 2:00 in the afternoon.
We note that these drugs were intercepted on September 9th; the previous major plane bust was made exactly year earlier on September 9th, 2018 - in that case it was half a tonne of cocaine - this time it was one and one third tonnes.
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