Minister of National Security Questions Some Reports of Police Involvement in Suspected Drug Planes

John Saldivar

“Contrived stories” and “conspiratorial fantasies” are words that National Security Minister John Saldivar used to describe some reports about police’s involvement in narco-trafficking in Belize. Those remarks were specifically aimed at the many suspected drug planes that have landed in Belize over the past year and allegations of corruption amongst high ranking officers of the police department. As you can recall, back in December a so-called whistleblower made several allegations against police officers, although many of those claims have gone unsubstantiated due to lack of concrete evidence.  Well, Saldivar says his ministry will not accept these “delusions.” In the latter part of 2018, however, officers in the north and south were charged for their involvement in illegal plane landings – those of which Saldivar acknowledged.  Here’s what he had to say last Friday at the passing out ceremony of a B.D.F. intake:

John Saldivar, Minister of National Security

“I am acutely aware of attempts to contrive conspiratorial fantasies of the involvement of some of our good security personnel with narcotic traffickers. While we must accept, and it would be naïve of us not to believe that indeed there are some of our security people who are compromised, some of whom have actually been arrested and charged. We must be careful not to accept delusions to use coincidental, inconsequential and even unrelated information from other countries to plot and contrive stories against our good security officers. Perhaps, even in the service of the very narcos who are feeling the very pressure from our security forces. We will continue to charge hard at these transnational criminals and will not be distracted.”