Govt. to auction uncustomed vehicles
Just when you thought the sad saga of the uncustomed vehicles found on a farm in the Stann Creek District was over, tonight they’re back in the news. A press release from the Ministry of Home Affairs announced today that government’s investigation into the dramatic find is over and the late model trucks are to be auctioned off to the public in the near future. But the most surprising aspect of the report is that authorities have determined that the owner of the SUV’s was not John Zabaneh, proprietor of the banana farm where they were found in late November, but instead belonged to Harry Sheran, a nearby resident who was kidnapped on October first and presumably murdered. This comes even though Zabaneh himself told us in a phone interview on November twenty-third, that the seizure of the vehicles was simply a miscommunication between the Customs Department and police, and that he would be able to produce documents showing that the cars were legit. But Zabaneh never handed over those papers and the trucks continued to collect dust at the Police Training School in Belmopan. Government later announced that they would be using the vehicles for themselves and had allotted them to the police and various other departments. Now in a sudden twist, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Dr. Victor Gonzalez, says the trucks are back in Belmopan, ready for the auction block. Government isn’t saying how they were able to figure out the owner’s identity, and unfortunately Sheran isn’t here to defend himself against the accusations. In early October, he and three of his employees disappeared from Montana Ranch, his property on the Southern Highway and have not been seen or heard from since. Just days before he was reported missing, Mexican police found Sheran’s wife murdered at her home in Chetumal. As police investigated Sheran’s case, a search of another ranch in the area, belonging to another Zabaneh: Charles, turned up two more uncustomed vehicles that will now share the same fate as the others. Inspections by officials from the Customs Department have revealed that all the vehicle identification numbers have been removed, a sure sign that they were stolen, presumably in Guatemala. The vehicles: four Toyota Hi-Lux pickups, two Toyota Prados, two Four Runners, one Nissan Patrol, two Dodge Caravans and the other two trucks found on Charles Zabaneh’s farm are estimated to be worth at least a half a million Belize dollars. Considering their high profile pedigree, however, what they will actually fetch at auction is unclear. Public opinion has been highly critical of government for not filing criminal charges against John Zabaneh; the latest announcement pointing the finger at a dead man will do little to change that impression.
