The Coast Guard patrols the sea, but the BDF still has its maritime responsibilities and the US government is rewarding that with the donation of patrol boats and heavy trucks to Belize’s Army. Tomorrow, the US Government will donate these patrol boats and trucks to the Belize Defence Force Special Boat Unit.

The boats are 43 foot NOR-TECH Interceptor Fast Patrol Boats, and the trucks are two Ford F-450’s, along with what’s called a Maintenance Sustainment Package with a combined value of 3.6 million Belize dollars. The initiative comes form a programme called Enduring Friendship which seeks to empower law enforcement agencies to better police their territorial waters – especially when those waters form the routes for the trans-shipment of drugs to the United States.

The United States Southern Command has given identical vessels to a number of countries in the region, in the hope that it will create a regional security network of maritime patrollers.