Customs officers receive protection to pursue smugglers
The popular image of a Belizean customs officer is that of a stern faced man or woman who pours through your suitcases at the airport or makes you file reams of paperwork to clear a shipment at the Belize City port. But those images are not the whole picture, as News Five’s Kendra Griffith discovered this morning.
Kendra Griffith, Reporting
This morning the Belize Chamber of Commerce Anti-Contraband Committee continued its campaign to crack down on illegal imports by handing over ten bullet proof vests and two cordless lights to the Customs Investigation Unit.
Kevin Herrera, General Mgr., Bz. Chamber of Commerce
“This effort this morning is a mere effort to try to give you the equipment and some of the resources necessary to help you better carry out your jobs.”
Gregory Gibson, Comptroller of Customs
“I want to express my gratitude on behalf of the department, on behalf of the officers, and I want to say we see it more than just a gift, we see it as a continuing expression of a relationship that has been fruitful and will be much more fruitful as we move ahead in 2007.”
And while one may not think of pursuing smugglers as particularly dangerous work, according to Comptroller of Customs Gregory Gibson, the action at the border can become fast and furious.
Gregory Gibson
“Primarily, contraband takes place in the hot bed behind the Orange Walk river, bordering with the Mexico in the north, in Corozal the Consejo areas and those areas can be very dangerous. We also recognise that drugs may be moving in those areas and so any number can play on any given day and officers are exposed to that sort of risk, so this will help them or perhaps give us an element that makes life a little bit more safer.”
The Chamber of Commerce launched its anti-contraband campaign in August 2005…
Kevin Herrera
“Millions of dollars are being lost to legitimate businesses each year because of things that are illegally coming into the country. This means not only a loss of profits and revenues to businesses, but also major loss to government, to your department in terms of its collections.”
Today, the committee and customs department says while they have made some progress, success is still a long ways off.
Gregory Gibson
“We have made inroads into this fight and in 2006 we opened our first station in Orange Walk to deal with that. In 2007, we propose to open a station specifically in Corozal to deal with contraband, so we are kicking up our enforcement efforts as much as our resources can come up with.”
Kay Menzies, Member, Anti-Contraband Committee
“Obviously the results aren’t where we would want them to be, but we do recognize that customs is trying hard against all odds in heavy opposition up north and we will see the numbers when they are released, but we do see a great deal of progress.”
The committee supports the Customs Department, updates and lobbies government officials, and most importantly, educates Belizeans on the far reaching effects of the black market. Kay Menzies, a Chamber board member, believes that the public is getting the message.
Gregory Gibson
“If one person comes up to me and says, keep up the fight, I think contraband is a bad idea, and I’ve seen where such and such happens, then we are making progress. I take it one person at a time. What we find is we’ve asked people, when they find contraband coming in, to call Crime Stoppers and the Crime Stoppers hotline has reported more tips coming in. I think people are starting to recognise that there is an impact.”
The Committee says that the most commonly smuggled items are liquor and cigarettes. Kendra Griffith reporting for News Five.
The Chamber of Commerce Anti-Contraband Committee says that in the coming weeks they will be releasing some statistics on their efforts.
