Benque Police Bust Belizeans and Guatemalan with Big Guns

What are two high-powered assault rifles and a cache of ammunition doing on the Benque side of the Belize/Guatemala border?  A pair of Belizeans and a Guatemalan national were found in possession of those weapons on Sunday morning as they partied hard and acted disorderly outside of a nightclub in the border town.  When police were called to the scene of the disturbance, a search of the black Range Rover the men were traveling in turned up some serious firepower.

Joseph Myvett

ACP Joseph Myvett, Head, National Crimes Investigation Branch

“On Sunday morning, sometime around 12:15 a.m., a report was made to Benque Viejo by telephone that some male persons in a vehicle were causing disturbance at a night club in Benque Viejo Town.  As a result, police visited the nightclub where they encountered a black Range Rover with Guatemalan registration plates where a search was conducted on this vehicle which resulted in the discovery of an AK-47 rifle and one 5.56 mini Galil weapon.  Also found were forty-seven rounds of 7.62 ammunition and fourteen 5.56 rounds of ammunition.  All those persons are detained pending this investigation and the vehicle has since been impounded.”

Reporter

“Did these people, do you believe they crossed the border with weapons or did they retrieve them in Belize?”

ACP Joseph Myvett

“We are not able to say at this point in time other than to say that our investigation has led us to the fact that this vehicle crossed into the country on February eighth, sometime around 7:10 p.m. driven by a Guatemalan national. Whenever these persons or vehicles enter the country they are checked by both immigration and customs officials.  Whenever you are bringing a vehicle into the country their procedures apply which is that there has to be some registration for the vehicle and the second issue to that is that in some instances searches are conducted on these vehicles by the Customs Department.”