7 News Belize

Police Confiscate Two Dozen Contraband Canoes
posted (August 13, 2020)

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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