Joseph Budna: kidnapper, arms dealer, sexual abuser
Joseph Budna
We told you on Thursday night that thirty-seven year old Joseph Budna is in police custody in Guatemala. Initial reports said he was involved in gang related activity. More details are available and the story spread like fire today all over the Guatemalan media. To say that Budna is in serious trouble is a major understatement because the long list of allegations against him include weapons trafficking, extortion and sexual abuse of children. But he was arrested because he is suspected to be the leader of an international criminal organization that specializes in kidnapping. According to the Guatemalan newspaper, Prensa Libre, Budna goes by the alias Joe and was captured in the La Ermita area of San Benito, Petén at around three o’clock on Thursday afternoon by officers from the Anti-kidnapping unit of the Interior Ministry. There was a standoff and Budna ended up in a hospital. According to Guatemala’s Deputy Interior Minister, Julio Rivera, Budna’s alleged gang is believed to be operating in Belize, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico. So far he has been linked to kidnappings of three young men over the past three months in which the victims were reportedly stalked for weeks, then abducted from Guatemala and held hostage in a village in Honduras since the two countries share an open border. 
The Prensa Libre reports also claim that while the victims were being held, Budna would abuse them, film it and use it for ransom to get the families to pay more. In the three cases, the group has reportedly collected almost ten thousand US dollars via Western Union transfers made in the name of Wilmer Alexander Suazo. Reports are that at least nine eyewitnesses have identified Budna as the leader of the kidnapping gang. Today, a raid was also carried out at Budna’s house in the Playa Blanca neighborhood, which is believed to be the group’s hub and several deposit slips from various bank branches, a passport, photographs and other items linking him to the kidnappings were reportedly found. He is also wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for allegedly kidnapping an American, says Prensa Libre and it is not yet known if there will be additional charges waiting for him in Honduras. Since moving to Guatemala, Budna has reportedly been posing as a journalist, spiritualist and doctor.
Justice may have caught up with him — a dead man walking.
Keep him there we dont whant him here. Let him pay what he did over there. We have a lot of criminals in Belize. Senores Guatemaltecos pueden agarrarselo nosotros los Belicenos no lo queremos. Si ustedes no lo quieren regalenlo a Honduras. Ensenenlo a amar a Dios en tierra ajena.
Good riddance
Stop posting news about this moron.
He dug his own grave, tuff.
Pity the gunshot did not sever his spine
Perhaps the Guatemalan government will know how to deal with this filth. Too bad he was not killed in the shootout. The Criminal “Injustice” system in Belize would have allowed him to pay a fine or make bail so he could escape to another country. Sometimes, it would be a good idea to let the Special Branch of the Belizean Police handle these career criminals. The problem with Belize is the amount of bribery and corruption that takes place in prosecuting criminals. Read this link from the US State Department. http://www.state.gov/e/eb/rls/othr/ics/2011/157241.htm
And there he goes again, This fellow is always involved in illegal activities and runs to the media to claim police brutality and Krem always justifying him see now. lets see what excuses he claims now. every dog has its day.
Sorry to say but when you fool you just fool.
That is NOT Belize!!!
I doubt that the Guatemalans will handle a foreigner with kiddy gloves. If the alligations are true, then he deserves everything coming his way. I wonder if he may have had something to do with the kids that went missing in PG?
Good riddance to this Amandala hero. Guatemala should be invited to come in and do a clean sweep of the gang-infested areas of Belize and take them across the border for good.
Liberty and Freedom, thanks for the link. The section on corruption is well worth a read, and it reminds me: the Prevention of Corruption in Public Life Act became law here in 1994, and HAS NEVER BEEN ENFORCED.
It requires public officials to PUBLICLY DECLARE what they own each year, so all can see how they are getting rich from their “public service.” Every Minister and member of the National Assembly is required to make that public declaration, but they refuse, and nothing happens to them.
What good is a law that is ignored?
hope he likes his additional 15 minutes of fame as its probably his last-you dumb little belize boy
I said before this guy either is the unluckiest guy in the world or he is hiding something. This person had so much stuff happenning it was amazing.
Let him enjoy the Guatemalan ‘Burritos’ in prison.
the bad thing after he is convicted and served his time HE WILL BE DEPORTED BACK TO BELIZE y dont they keep him there
These people are constantly on the news claiming that they are innocent when they get caught committing crime and accuse the law of brutality let him cry that with the Guatemalans now thats the last we will see of Mr Budna