One man shot as drug deal goes sour

The drug trade is similar to many other high risk business ventures in that it is not unusual for arrangements to come unglued. But what makes narcotics trafficking different is that when a cocaine deal blows up in your face somebody usually winds up dead. On Saturday afternoon in Orange Walk nobody died, but one man remains hospitalised following what appears to be a high stakes double cross.

Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
Today, Honduran nationals Jose Luis Rodriguez, Jorge Barahona, and Salvadoran national Jorge Alberto Castro were taken to the Orange Walk Magistrate Court where they were charged with drug trafficking, attempted murder, and conspiracy to dangerous harm.

The arrest follows an incident that left forty two year old Belizean Alejandro Joseph Pau hospitalized at the K.H.M.H with a bullet wound to the abdomen. The injured Pau was found bleeding inside this Toyota pickup at the town?s new roundabout.

According to investigating officer, Sgt. Julius Cantun, Pau and his son in law, Rodriguez had gone to the area to conduct a drug transaction in the Maya Inca beach area on the News River near the village of Palmar. Cantun says the duo was taken to the location by alleged middle man Barahona in his vehicle. Pau and Rodriquez were supposed to sell to the buyers?identified as Amilcar Lopez, Heber Tzac, and Eusebio Paredez?a total of four kilos of cocaine valued at twenty-eight thousand dollars when the deal went sour.

Sgt. Julius Cantun, Investigating officer
?We go back to the statements given by the persons present. And according to them, the triggerman for no apparent reason or no provocation simply pulled out a nine millimetre and opened fire once they were at the location. We suspect that they had gone with that intention to steal the drugs.?

That triggerman has been identified as Amilcar Lopez. Canton says shortly after the incident the three accused, at separate times, visited the police station to make a false report about the incident, but as Barahona and Castro spoke with the cops, Rodriguez arrived and quickly identified them as the persons involved.

Sgt. Julius Cantun
?After the shooting incident, they also escaped by running into the bushes, leaving behind the vehicle of Jorge Barahona. And knowing that somebody has already got shot, they probably guessed that the police would have been involved and the vehicle would have been found at the scene. So they quickly came to the station to make a false report. They have also been arrested and charged for making a false report to the police.?

The alleged buyers, who remain at large, managed to take two kilos of cocaine. The remaining two packages were found by police in a hotel room that was booked by Rodriguez. The cops say there is a possibility that Pau, who is a resident of Caye Caulker, may have come into contact with the drugs following a wet drop.

Sgt. Julius Cantun
?All we know is that Mister Pau lists his occupation as a fisherman and all of us know that sometimes fishermen find drugs floating as a result of wet drops, so it is probable that that is the origin of the drugs.?

Pau remains in a critical but stable condition at the K.H.M.H. The police say as soon as he recovers he too will be charged for drug trafficking. Rodriguez, Castro, and Barahona were denied bail and remanded to Hattieville prison.