Email

Print

It's getting more and more dangerous to be the owner of a late model Toyota Hilux in western Belize. It seems that every few weeks there's a new tale of a stolen Hilux - increasingly accompanied by a home invasion. A look into our news archives tonight revealed 5 separate incidents since February of this year the majority of them concentrated in the Cayo district. The high resale value pickups are much sought after in Guatemala and cross border bandits come to Belize hunting for them.

The latest Hilux robbery which happened at around 9:10 yesterday evening happened in Unitedville Village. Its owner, Rolando Gonzalez and his wife had just gotten home. He says that he opened his gate and drove in only to find that an Orange Haval containing five armed masked men had followed him into his yard. One of them put a gun to Gonzalez's son's head while ordering the family into the house.

Once inside the masked men demanded money and when Gonzalez's said he didn't have any they demanded the keys to the Hilux. Gonzalez had no choice but to hand it over and thereafter watched the thieves drive off with his Hilux and the licensed 9 millimeter pistol he'd left inside. They also got away with 15 live rounds of ammunition.

But while it was a harrowing experience for the family no one was hurt and today, one day after the holdup the stolen vehicle has been located. Police found Gonzalez's Hilux concealed in some bushes in the Jaguar Paw area about 30 miles away. The suspects were nowhere to be found.