| Goat gold Diggers Keep Coming In Chiquibul |
| Tue, April 11, 2017 |
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Five more Guatemalan gold panners have been caught in Belizean territory. The four adults and one minor were caught yesterday 4 miles within Belize in the Ceibo Chico area of Southern Chiquibul.
Signs of murky water flowing downstream told the police and FCD Rangers that there was activity in the creek. The lawmen found two men digging with a long iron bar in the creek, along with two other men and a minor.
The minor carried a plastic vial with what looked to be a gold mineral under his arm. The men all said the vial belonged to them. There was also about 1 pound of pulverized minerals, including what appeared to be gold mixed with small pebbles wrapped in a t-shirt. And the patrol team found 4 live rounds of 12 gauge ammunition in the camp.
The four adults and the minor were taken to the San Ignacio Police Station for charges to be laid on the adults for illegal entry and mineral extraction without a permit. They are mostly from from the Guatemalan village of Monte Los Olivos.
So what accounts for all the gold panning arrests recently? Well, the FCD has moved most to its ranger staff directly into the area where gold panning has been concentrated. Since then they have been continually working with law enforcement in that hotspot area.
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