Stolen Ministry of Works grader last seen outside Melchor

It’s been five days since the government owned 2000 12-H grader was stolen and tonight the Ministry of Works says that there is reason to believe that the grader was stolen with help from locals. The heavy duty equipment, which is valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, was used for road maintenance in Cayo District when it was jacked last Wednesday. At the time, the operator, Dwayne Arthurs, was grading the Young Gial Road in Teakettle Village when three armed bandits tied, gagged him and took off with the grader. News Five spoke with C.E.O. of the Ministry of Works, Cadet Henderson, who says that the grader was last seen in a village outside Melchor.

Via Phone: Cadet Henderson, C.E.O, Ministry of Works

Cadet Henderson

“The latest report was an eyewitness on Saturday, this past Saturday, which suggested that it was in Durango in Guatemala which is not too very far to the north west of Melchor.  They have cell numbers in Guatemala that relates to Belizeans. They are working on all fronts.  I was assured this morning, I went over by the police myself because I want to see that the momentum is kept up. They have some people that, one of which I believe will produce some information to us that will help us advance in this case. An email we received and two follow up calls from a Belizean who has a farm that has some Guatemalan workers, made a comment that they’ve known of stolen vehicles that have taken that path through Durango heading to Mexico. But through the Interpol, I was told by police that all the countries in the region are on the alert; we’ve emailed pictures and reference number, serial number and the like of this missing equipment. So I’m still optimistic that we’ll nail it down. There have been several local names that surfaced that have been alleged to be involved in this plot.”

Anyone with information that can assist the police in relocating the grader is asked to contact the nearest police station.