Is there a Drug War in Corozal? Police Rounding Up Suspects

Chester Williams

There was also a murder over the weekend in Libertad Village in the Corozal District. Kurtis Usher was shot dead and his son grazed to the head when a gunman opened fire on the family as they arrived home on the night of June third.  A high-powered rifle was used in Usher’s killing and it is believed that it may have been drug-related. Residents in Libertad have lost their sense of security and the Belize Police Department is pulling no stops to ensure their safety.  In fact, several persons have since been detained pending investigation, including Hugo Casanova. Casanova maintains that he is not related to the narco world, but continues to be singled out whenever anything happens in Corozal. Here’s how ComPol Chester Williams responds to this and the reported drug war in north.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“Weh Bob Marley say? Yo could fool some people sometimes, but yo can’t fool all the people all the time. I don’t need to speak of what it is alleged Hugo Casanova is involved in. I think the entire Corozal or the entire northern district could tell you about that. And for the attorney to say that to every time something happens, Hugo is in custody, that again is not true. I can’t recall the last time he as detained. Nonetheless, we are looking at a number of incidents in the northern districts where firearms had been used and persons had been killed and certainly there is an issue with respect to the drug war in the north. As a department we are working in tandem with the Belize Defense Force to see what we can do to stem these violence. And yes as a part of that effort, all those persons who we believe are involved in the drug trade within the northern districts are being pursued by the police with a view for them to be interviewed and see what role or what part they are playing in what is happening in the northern districts. And so with that, it is nothing new. When something happens, it is the police duty to move in and investigate and to try restore some sense of normalcy. If you go to the village of Libertad, you will see that the people there are very uneasy and they expect that the security forces will do something to restore their sense of normalcy and we are going to respond to the needs of the people in doing what we should to restore that sense of safety to the people of Libertad and by extension the northern districts. We are looking at every possibility. I can tell you definitive that what is happening in Libertad has to do with local suspected drug dealers or drug traffickers. Those are the persons we are focusing on, but at the same time we are still looking at the possibility of outside elements playing a part on what is taking place.”