But the COMPOL didn't need Facebook to know about Santa Cruz, Orange
Walk. That's the jump off point to Botes Mexico and on any given day,
you can find dozens of canoes ready to launch across the Rio Hondo for
some cross border smuggling.
It's all illegal activity at an illegal border crossing, but police and
customs have been reluctant to touch it because it would hit a raw
nerve in those communities where contrabanding is a way of life.
Well, police put an end to all that today, and went on a major
operation to seize the canoes - a total of 23 of them. Sources say
there was a showdown, buy the cops had the numbers and the firepower
and did their thing.
The Commissioner told us about it today in the context of the full
operation in the north and sounded a warning about illegal activity
that will not the tolerated:
Chester Williams - Commissioner of Police
"This whole pandemic issue and the issue of border jumping and the
contrabanding is really and truly frustrating. You ever find yourself
where you wish you were not you, sometimes I wish I was not me. The
whole issue of people not abiding by the law is rather frustrating and
we continue to receive information of border jumpers particularly those
engaging in contraband still doing these activities within the Douglas,
San Victor and Santa Cruz area and so I went back into the area
yesterday, there was a person who photograph came up on social media
that he was in part of Mexico on Monday and so that person was sought,
he was caught and he was swabbed and placed in quarantine, that is one
Mr. Alamilla and again, I want to sound the warning that this issue
with border jumping and contrabanding is one that we must take
seriously and there is absolutely no room for negotiation, there is
absolutely no room for complacency, we have to go after these people
with a vigour and make them understand that we are dead serious and we
are bringing an end to the activities. So I went back into the area
yesterday, I spoke to villagers or San Jose and of Douglas and they
gave us some information in terms of person who are involved and these
sort of things and we are working on those information to be able to go
after those person who we know are involved in contrabanding. Now, last
night the police in San Victor, acting on information, they went and
searched a home and they found a number of contraband goods on the roof
of the building. The goods were taken into custody of the police, all
the occupants of the house were detained, they were swabbed, and they
are now in quarantine. After quarantine, they'll be charged under the
SI for being in possession of contraband and as is now the case with
the new SI, that they'll be charged as if they are a border jumper. So,
those persons who we currently have in custody as a result of our
operation yesterday. Just today again, the police in that area, the
border operations, that is in San Victor, Santa Cruz, Douglas, that all
of those little canoes that we see along the river side, we are going
to take possession of those canoes, remove them from the area and we
see how that is going to play out. If it is that they don't have the
canoe, they will not be able to make no mischief and whenever the
police goes to these areas and find any canoes or any boat in those
area, we are going to confiscate them until we can be able to ensure we
get a grip of this situation. The thing is that, the canoe is what they
use to enable their activities, if it is that we take away the canoes
from the same people them, the activities become less. So, we're hoping
that is going to workout for us."
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