Body of Cayo man found near Benque

A man was found dead on the banks of the Mopan River in Benque Viejo on Wednesday morning. Twenty-four year old Lucio Caretella and twenty-two year old Joel Cunil, both laborers of Esperanza Village, ventured out to the Guatemalan side of the border and upon returning, Cunil says they were held up by men with guns. Cunil managed to escape without his friend and upon reaching Esperanza informed Caretella’s family about the incident. Police found Caretella’s lifeless body on the banks of the river near the Benque Viejo dumpsite. In addition to a cut on the dead man’s mouth, police also found an expended M-16 shell. Today’s postmortem revealed that Caretella died from asphyxia due to trauma caused by a gunshot to the mouth. Though Cunil is not a suspect in the murder, police are still questioning him about the incident, which seems to be rooted in some type of irregular international commerce.