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.