Important Note: This Internet version of 7 News is a verbatum
transcript of our evening television news script. Many interviews on our newscast
are conducted in Creole. In the interest of clarity for our foreign readers,
we attempt to paraphrase the Creole quotes in English
Tonight, there is a desperate and frantic search for a child that reportedly fell into the South Creek Canal. Details are sketchy at this point - but best reports indicate it is a 6 year old boy - who reportedly fell into the Canal near the Fairweather Street bridge a few hours ago and has not resurfaced.
At this time there is no official information and our team on the scene tells us that the neighborhood residents are leading the search - mostly using sticks to push into the canal. It's very rudimentary scientific - but it's the best they have as searches are getting more frantic with nightfall.'
Our team remains on the scene and we'll keep you posted.
.....
And an update to our headline story - the young boy - has been recovered from the south Creek Canal.
Unconfirmed Reports say he was somewhat responsive when given CPR and was foaming from the mouth. He was rushed to the hospital in a Coast Guard pickup and we will keep you posted. Our team on the ground says the appearance of his condition is not encouraging.
The Corozal Community was left heartbroken and stunned after a double murder back in September. A woman and her mother were ruthlessly murdered by her ex-boyfriend - and the father of her child. After Edwin Marin killed both Deysha Hill and Natasha Clarke in broad daylight, he fled the scene and has been a fugitive ever since.
But last night, cops found him dead near the Mexico/Belize border. Was it vigilante justice or did Marin get mixed up with a cartel? And does his murder bring closure to the family of the victims?
Courtney Menzies has this story.
24-year-old Edwin Marin has been on the run for over a month after he murdered his ex-girlfriend, 21-year-old Deysha Hill, and her mother, 46-year-old Natasha Clarke. It was a tragedy made worse by the fact that the police could not locate Marin.
That is, until last night, when his body was found lying in a pool of blood at the Bacadia area, an illegal crossing about two and a half miles from Patchakan Village.
The police have launched an investigation into his death:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Initially we got information that he had fled the country into Mexico and he was being sought both in Belize and Mexico for the purpose of being charged for the double murder in Corozal. But his body was found right at the border crossing area with injuries consistent with him having been beaten to death. That's a matter that the police is looking at at this time trying to verify if he was killed in Belize or on the Mexican side and was dragged over to the Belizean side so we're looking at it."
Jules Vasquez: "This individual had interactions with the cartel, the much spoken about Caborca Cartel. Might he have killed by them?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "That is a possibility, it is one of our suspicions as well. But in the absence of empirical evidence to that effect we just have to look at it as a murder and investigate it to see exactly who are behind it."
But while the police try to figure out the circumstances behind his death, the family of his victims say now they can finally sleep well at night:
Shian White, Brother & Uncle of Deceased "This does bring some closure, obviously having him out there gave the family an uneasiness, we can't really sleep all that well knowing that this double murderer was still on the streets so yes this does provide some closure for the family."
"Within the family I think we've had different opinions about this. Me personally, I would have preferred him to face the justice system, although I am conscious of the way our judicial system works in Belize and it isn't guaranteed that he would've faced the adequate punishment within the justice system but with that being said, I am also okay with this situation and the way it ended. The most important thing is that this is a dangerous person who committed these two murders but has done other stuff in the past and just having him off the streets is really good for Belize."
And while Hill's daughter has now lost both mother and father to murder, her uncle says she's in good hands.
Shian White, Brother & Uncle of Deceased "I think that's the sad part but being honest, even if he was alive, he would no longer have had contact with my niece. That was just off the books for sure. But it is sad for her that she's an orphan now. I know within the family we will do everything we can to give her the best life possible, she is loved and she is around family so we will be doing that. It's a very sad situation knowing that she lost her mother and her grandmother and that it was done at the hands of her father. But it is what it is and at the end of the day all we can do is our best to give her the best life possible."
There were two fatal motorcycle accidents this weekend - and tonight two families are mourning. One in the south for 17 year old Cristin Guerra, and another in the north for a 24 year old Edgar Gongora.
We begin our coverage with Guerra - who was from Pomona village. The teenager was driving his Skygo motorcycle on the southern highway on Sunday night at 9:00 when he was run over by a Dodge Ram. Police told us more:
ACP Hilberto Romero, OC Eastern Division "On Saturday the 13th of October 2024, there was a fatal road traffic accident between miles 2 and 3 on the Thomas Vincent Ramos highway. Police visited the area where they saw a motorcycle with extensive damages."
"Also seen was a Dodge Ram pickup. The motorcycle was driven by Cristian Guerra and the Dodge Ram was driven by Ezechias Vasquez. Cristian Guerra was taken for treatment where he succumbed to his injuries."
"Ezechias Vasquez is presently in police custody awaiting charges referenced this fatal road traffic accident. They were travelling in the opposite direction and the pickup hit the motorcycle causing Guerra to fall off and receive injuries."
Jules Vasquez "Mr. Guerra, the deceased was only 17 years old I believe. Was he the holder of a valid license?"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OC Eastern Division "We are presently conducting an investigation to determine that, because the offices were closed over a long holiday so that is being dealt with today."
The teenager had only recently gotten the motorcycle.
The other fatal motorcycle accident happened a few hours before - at about 6:50 pm on the San Antonio Road heading towards Yo Creek village.
Cotton Tree resident, 28 year old Lorenzo Maldonado was driving a car towards Yo Creek village when he made a U-turn. That's when he had a collision with the Lifan motorcycle driven by 24 year old Yo Creek resident Edgar Gongora whose injuries proved to be fatal. Police told us more about the collision:
ACP Hilberto Romero, OC Eastern Division "On Sunday, the 13th of October, 2024, there was a fatal road traffic accident at San Antonio Road in Orange Walk. Police visited the area where they saw a motorcycle extensively damaged, and a Mercury four door car with damages."
"Information is that Edgar Gongora was riding his motorcycle when he attempted to overtake the Mercury car driven by Enrique Maldonado. He hit the front portion of the car and caused him to lose control of the motorcycle."
"He fell to the ground and he received injuries. He was taken to the hospital for treatment where he succumbed to his injuries."
Jules Vasquez "Clearly, from the evidence so far, he crashed into the car. It might be a situation, much like what Mr. Williams described."
ACP Hilberto Romero, OC Eastern Division "That is correct."
Jules Vasquez "Will the driver be charged in this case?"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OC Eastern Division "He has been served with the NIP. At the conclusion of the investigation will determine if he will be charged."
Gongora sustained major head injury and later died at the hospital. His father was there and told us in Spanish that he hold no grudge against the driver:
Bibiano Gongora, Father of Deceased "I appreciate the people and I forgive the people. Because it was not his intention directly to kill my son. It was an accident."
"I feel strongly, I feel strongly that it's part of what God has given and God has taken away from me. And it is a great privilege because of how I feel, because it is not my first child, it is my third child that is leaving me."
We'll let you know if and when charges are brought.
These are the 8th and 9th motorcycle fatalities in the past 6 weeks.
Today the Commissioner of Police conceded that it is a road safety crisis. He said that he's been in many positions where he could have knocked down a motorcycle driver if he wasn't being careful.
He believes that despite the enforcement and the checkpoints, motorcycle drivers continue to break the law, which leads to their deaths. He added though that some of the penalties need to be stricter.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "The motorcycle accidents is a crisis as you rightly pointed out and I listened to your comments on the beef this morning as you would normally rant and it is not as you said that we have given up or we have lost hope. I have said consistently that we are working with the national transport to see how best we can address this issue. Even in my conference I again told the commanders that we need to do more but while we try to do more, we are seeing that no matter how much we try and no matter how much the media publicize these accidents and even with the safety tips that we're giving, these drivers aren't taking heed. They don't give a damn. What do you do with a society that doesn't give a damn and again you said this morning, it's an enforcement issue. You can't enforce what you're not seeing because the truth is in the presence of the police they abide with every law. But the minute they step out of the view of the police, they break the laws. If I were to take the dash cam chip from my vehicle because I have dash cam and I were to give that to you, you would see the amount time, if I am not careful, I would knock down people on motorcycles."
"I think that there needs to be stricter legislative intervention. I do believe that the traffic laws are antiquated to some extent and the penalties that go with them reflect the 80's, the 70's. There's a need to bring the penalty in line with 2022, 2023, 2024 type of penalties. A $25 fine in the 70's would be like a $500 fine today. So we need to look at that."
On Friday, we told you about the truck load of diesel smuggled in from Guatemala and intercepted in Independence village.
Well, according to best information we could gather, the smuggler has well placed political connections - so instead of having the fuel taken away and face a fine for three times the value, he was - incredibly - allowed to apply for an import license. This basically means that the Ministry of Finance is bending over backward to enable a person whose smuggling business erodes their most taxed commodity.
So, our reports say this smuggler will get only a slap on the wrist in the form of a modest fine and be allowed to keep the fuel.
The total haul is about 1400 gallons of fuel loaded in barrels.
There's a weather disturbance off the Central American Coast and tonight NEMO is saying "don't panic."
A release says there is "a potential for tropical cyclone development later this week. While current chances of formation remain low, with near 0% probability over the next 48 hours and 30% within seven days, the situation could still evolve. In a worst-case scenario, a tropical depression or storm could form by Thursday or Friday, moving over Northern Nicaragua or Honduras, weakening before its remnants pass over Belize late Friday into Saturday, bringing moderate to heavy rainfall."
"The most important takeaway is that there is no need to panic. The public is reminded that as we are still in the peak of hurricane season, it is crucial to stay informed by paying close attention to official alerts." End quote. We'll keep following the story.
On Friday we told you about Delcia and Adilah Abdullah who claimed that cops broke down their door to get to their surveillance camera. The police believe the camera may have footage of a murder that occurred on Reggae Street last week. But after the mother and daughter told the police their camera didn't capture anything, the police left and later returned to retrieve the footage. They hopped their fence and broke the lock on their door, which they got on camera.
And after all that, the cops charged them both with obstructing a police officer and also charged the daughter with aggravated assault. They pleaded not guilty and received bail in the sum of $1,000 each plus a surety of the same amount.
After court, Delcia Abdullah told court reporter Anita Nembhard that she's thinking of suing the police department.
Delcia Abdulah, Charged For Obstructing A Police Officer "I had told them the camera wasn't working. It's not like I didn't tell them. You understand? I think they came and they were under the influence of alcohol. Because when they were talking, I could smell the alcohol, right?"
"And then when I was telling them, I guess they didn't want to hear what I was saying. Right? Maybe it was their ego or whatever. I didn't know what it is. Maybe a demonic spirit that brought them to my house."
"Because from since the murder happened, they keep coming to my house. I'm not the one who did the murder. They come inside, look around, and something they say, they look for electronic device, I guess its DVD or whatever."
"They came and see that I don't have no electronic device because the camera is not hooked up. They still took my sim card, which they didn't give no receipt for the sim card from out the camera and when they are done they said thank you and went on their business. I said thank you my R. They should have thank me from the time I tell them the camera is not working and went on their business. And not after you broke in my house."
"And deprive me of liberty to my property. You understand me? Don't come and tell me thank you then. I intend to sue becausea and also my daughter the police pass and brushup against her like in a way he wanted to touch her butt."
"That's like sexual assault, you understand what I'm saying? That's the sexual assault. And then the next police officer grab the phone out of her hand. And now she is saying my daughter assault her. She's the one that assaulted my daughter."
Reporter "This is the same one that brush your daughter, that accused your daughter of assaulting her?"
Delcia Abdulah, Charged For Obstructing A Police Officer "No, it's another lady after they come to arrest us. She's saying that my daughter assaulted her, but it's her that grabbed the phone. My daughter was sitting down and she stand up."
But the commissioner justifies the incident. He said he was the one who instructed the police to hop the fence and enter the home. And he is now accusing the mother daughter duo of deleting the footage. Here's what he said today.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "The matter on Reggae Street is a tough one for us and the police did not break into anybody's house as you have alluded to."
Jules Vasquez: "I saw them on the video."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "I will explain to you. Our investigation team was in the area canvassing looking for evidence. There was a house in the area that has surveillance cameras. The police went there and they refuse to cooperate with the investigators in terms of getting the surveillance footage. I was contacted and I told the police, get a search warrant under the indictable procedures act which states that the police can go and search and confiscate any evidence that can be used in a criminal investigation. So, on the strength of a search warrant, the police went to the house. The police were there, with the search warrant to execute the search for the evidence that we needed. And they refused to let the police in. I told the police again, jump the fence and go in. The police did so, and they were able to retrieve a SIM card that had the recording. But they had deleted the recording from the SIM card. So we are applying to the court today, to get a court order to search the SIM card. We do have the equipment to be able to retrieve the whatever was was deleted from the SIM card. We have the equipment to retrieve whatever deleted, but we want to make sure that we do everything in accordance with the law."
Jules Vasquez: "Now you realize that persons with security video, Mr. Faber said it himself, sometimes feel that, the security video could implicate them in their community as a snitch."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "It's not a matter that, like I said, in the Faber incident, I said, had I known, I would have told the police to deal with him the same way I instructed them to delete this one. We cannot be here saying that crime is out of control, the police is not doing their job. And when the police want to do their job, we impede the police from doing their job. No, we can't do that."
The commissioner says he does not at all believe the family's right to privacy was violated.
We also asked the commissioner for an update on the licensed .223 rifle owned by Efrain Rejon from Independence village. Police took the gun away after he was accused of pulling on a road works crew on the Coastal Highway.
But, the charges were dropped when they went to court, however police say his license should still be revoked. The commissioner today told us that Rejon's attorney has written to him:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "The lawyer has written to me asking that the firemen be returned. I have wrote back and said no. If they want to take me to court, then let them take me to the courts."
Jules Vasquez "But he still has his pump 12 and 9 mm."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "I am not aware of that. But if he has them, we have no legal authority to take them away until when we could get the license revoked if it is revoked. If you revoke one, you have to revoke all. You can't tell the man he's not a fit and proper person to hold one gun, but he's a fit and proper person to hold others."
"Now, If you're not fit and proper, it goes for all the weapons. And I am confident that if the board decides to revoke one, it is going to apply the same way."
In our top segment we discussed the cartel and asked the commissioner whether they were involved in the murder of Edwin Marin.
Well, we also asked if they were involved in the kidnapping of a father and son from northern Belize who were kidnapped in Subteniente LopEz last week. Here's what he said:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "That kidnapping did have to do with the cartels in Chetumal, and we are happy that the outcome is what the family and the entire Belizean society had hoped for, that these two individuals were returned home alive."
"I can say with certainty that the family, the father and son who were kidnapped from our records, they are not persons of questionable character, they seem to be outstanding people, and so that had puzzled us as well in terms of why would they have been kidnapped, but nonetheless we're happy that they have been returned home alive and well to their families, and again Belizeans going over to the Mexican side is something that we have to look at and decide on our own if it is that we want to go or not.
"The cartel issues in in the Chetumal area is certainly intensifying. Our northern operations have been very very effective in keeping the cartels and their operatives at bay. It is not to say that our efforts cannot be infiltrated, but I can say to you and the Belizean people that it is going to take a lot for that to happen."
A security guard was violently attacked and robbed at gunpoint at the Independence and Bella Vista Junction on Sunday evening. 44 year old Locario Cho, a security guard at the George Murray Bus Terminal, reported that around 7:20 p.m., while waiting at the bus stop, a grey SUV pulled up just three feet away from him.
Four men, all dressed in black clothing and wearing face masks, emerged from the vehicle armed with 9mm pistols. One of the assailants threw Cho to the ground, while another struck him in the head with a pistol. The group proceeded to steal his cell phone, a wallet containing $450 in cash, and some personal tools.
Cho sustained multiple injuries, including cuts to his forehead, head, and above his right eye, as well as a swollen right eye. Police searched the area, but the suspects remain unknown at this time.
That is one more incidence of armed masked men pulling off a robbery. We asked the commissioner about what looks like a trend of armed and outfitted assailants:
Jules Vasquez "Are you concerned about this increase in masked armed men?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "We have to be concerned. I would not say it's an increase. These are things that have been happening. Again, I said to commanders that there's a need for us to do more in terms of preventative patrols, preventative measures like stop and search, house searches, basses searches."
"For the most part the police, knows the criminal in the area. And what we need to do is to make sure we go and stay on top of them. When these things occur, it's alarming, it's disturbing. And as a society, we condemn it."
"We will do our best to make sure we find those who are responsible and try to prosecute them successfully."
Last week you heard the PM say the negotiations for Stake Bank are between MSC Cruise lines and OPSA, and the government doesn't have a part in it. He also mentioned that GOB is more focused on the Port of Belize - in which MSC may also be a partner. Briceno explained that Belize needs an upgraded container port as much as it needs a better cruise port.
John Briceno, Prime Minister "What we're doing, we're continuing to work on the Port of Belize. We need a modern container port and we need, on the medium to long term, we do need a berthing cruise port and we presented a paper to Cabinet and the Cabinet has agreed that they want us to see if we can put partners together along with the government to be able to, strategic partners, to be able to build a container port and a berthing facility for the cruise industry. Everybody will agree the numbers of cruise have been going down because we don't have the facilities, the ships are becoming larger, they just can't be tendered out there. So there is a myriad of problems that we need address if we want to move this industry forward."
And when we asked the PM about the garbage pile-up situation last Thursday, he said that there was a company looking to turn our trash into energy. It would assist in solving two major problems the country is experiencing right now. Here's how he put it.
John Briceno, Prime Minister "We've had a number of people expressing interest to see if they can convert that garbage into energy. So far the ones that come say, we don't have enough, we need more garbage for it t be economically feasible but there is a company in particular that seems to have generators to produce energy, small ones that might be able to fit with what we're doing so I told Minister Habet to get in touch with the people for them to come and see if something could work. If that could work, that would be fantastic because we could start to burn our garbage to create energy to put it back into the grid."
And turning back now to police news - the cops captured a pair of escapees on Friday night. And good that they did because two of them are alleged murderers and foreign nationals.
Romero told us more:
Santos Lopez was part of the mass escaped from the prison in October of 2020 and Angel Garcia ARE both foreign nationals on remand for MURDER.
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Tonight, there is a desperate and frantic search for a child that reportedly fell into the South Creek Canal. Details are sketchy at this point - but best reports indicate it is a 6 year old boy - who reportedly fell into the Canal near the Fairweather Street bridge a few hours ago and has not resurfaced.
The Corozal Community was left heartbroken and stunned after a double murder back in September. A woman and her mother were ruthlessly murdered by her ex-boyfriend - and the father of her child. After Edwin Marin killed both Deysha Hill and Natasha Clarke in broad daylight, he fled the scene and has been a fugitive ever since.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police 
Shian White, Brother & Uncle of Deceased 
There were two fatal motorcycle accidents this weekend - and tonight two families are mourning. One in the south for 17 year old Cristin Guerra, and another in the north for a 24 year old Edgar Gongora.
"Ezechias Vasquez is presently in police custody awaiting charges referenced this fatal road traffic accident. They were travelling in the opposite direction and the pickup hit the motorcycle causing Guerra to fall off and receive injuries."
The other fatal motorcycle accident happened a few hours before - at about 6:50 pm on the San Antonio Road heading towards Yo Creek village.
"I feel strongly, I feel strongly that it's part of what God has given and God has taken away from me. And it is a great privilege because of how I feel, because it is not my first child, it is my third child that is leaving me."
These are the 8th and 9th motorcycle fatalities in the past 6 weeks.
On Friday, we told you about the truck load of diesel smuggled in from Guatemala and intercepted in Independence village.
There's a weather disturbance off the Central American Coast and tonight NEMO is saying "don't panic."
On Friday we told you about Delcia and Adilah Abdullah who claimed that cops broke down their door to get to their surveillance camera. The police believe the camera may have footage of a murder that occurred on Reggae Street last week. But after the mother and daughter told the police their camera didn't capture anything, the police left and later returned to retrieve the footage. They hopped their fence and broke the lock on their door, which they got on camera.
"Because from since the murder happened, they keep coming to my house. I'm not the one who did the murder. They come inside, look around, and something they say, they look for electronic device, I guess its DVD or whatever."
But the commissioner justifies the incident. He said he was the one who instructed the police to hop the fence and enter the home. And he is now accusing the mother daughter duo of deleting the footage. Here's what he said today.
We also asked the commissioner for an update on the licensed .223 rifle owned by Efrain Rejon from Independence village. Police took the gun away after he was accused of pulling on a road works crew on the Coastal Highway.
In our top segment we discussed the cartel and asked the commissioner whether they were involved in the murder of Edwin Marin.
That is one more incidence of armed masked men pulling off a robbery. We asked the commissioner about what looks like a trend of armed and outfitted assailants:
Last week you heard the PM say the negotiations for Stake Bank are between MSC Cruise lines and OPSA, and the government doesn't have a part in it. He also mentioned that GOB is more focused on the Port of Belize - in which MSC may also be a partner. Briceno explained that Belize needs an upgraded container port as much as it needs a better cruise port.
"What we're doing, we're continuing to work on the Port of Belize. We need a modern container port and we need, on the medium to long term, we do need a berthing cruise port and we presented a paper to Cabinet and the Cabinet has agreed that they want us to see if we can put partners together along with the government to be able to, strategic partners, to be able to build a container port and a berthing facility for the cruise industry. Everybody will agree the numbers of cruise have been going down because we don't have the facilities, the ships are becoming larger, they just can't be tendered out there. So there is a myriad of problems that we need address if we want to move this industry forward."
And when we asked the PM about the garbage pile-up situation last Thursday, he said that there was a company looking to turn our trash into energy. It would assist in solving two major problems the country is experiencing right now. Here's how he put it.
