Last Thursday, Chiquibul forest rangers busted a trio of Guatemalan gold panners in Ceibo Chico. But, two escaped and the Joint Forces Unit detained one of them.
He is Santos David Xol Yat, a 30 year old Guatemalan national, resident of Monte Los Olivos, Peten, Guatemala.
He was one of two Guatemalans in a creek at the foothill of the Chiquibul-Maya Mountains, 5 miles within Belize. One of them had a shovel in his hand, and the other had an iron bar which both of them were using to dig inside the creek.
When they were alerted to stop, one ran off, while the other was apprehended. Xol Yat was found with a white transparent vial with what appeared to be gold mineral."
Santos told authorities that he and a group comprised of 2-3 have extracted some 15 to 20 grams of gold from the Chiquibul amounting to a value of 3,000 quetzales. This time he had less than a gram.. Santos was escorted to the Ceibo Chico Conservation Post, then to Tapir Camp and later handed over to the San Ignacio Police Station pending charges of illegal entry, defacing a protected area and mining for minerals inside a protected area without a proper permit."
Email
Print