A Look at Gang Movements Across Districts

Mark Stephens

The unimpeded movement of gang members across various parts of the country, including Dangriga, has raised serious concerns for residents, as well as law enforcement.  It is well known that criminals from Belize City often retreat to Gales Point Village and Dangriga Town to lay low for a while whenever things get heated in the Old Capital.  Likewise, it is also public knowledge that on many occasions, criminal elements have been brought in from Dangriga to carry out hits in Belize City.  That concern is reverberating across the community in the wake of the weekend mayhem.

Voice of: Second Eyewitness

“Ah think afta dis we police haftu like screen di people who come eena town mein because dehn Belize bwai dehn di run down ya, after all, you know.  [Dehn] haftu check  like, anytime eena dehn public place, yo haftu check round and sih like who noh business ya and thing.  Ah think dat da weh we need fu Dangriga because ya da wahn peaceful place, cause ya yo could sihdown anywhere and all about.  Front ah any place deh and nothing noh happen to yoh right, day or night.  Whateva time.  Yo could go anywhere but like accident like dat happen right now, huh, like everybody try get scared, you know.  Afta that happen di street get peel, di shed, well as you notice di shed peel and da wahn place weh always have wahn lotta people right.”

Isani Cayetano

“Now this is a high-profile case for you guys here in Dangriga, this kind of murder involving gang personalities and execution style murders isn’t something that Dangriga is primarily known for.  What does this mean now, seeing as though gang activity at that scale has arrived here in Dangriga?”

ASP Mark Stephens, Acting O.C., Dangriga Police

“Yeah, well once it happens in Belize City, Belize City is not far from Dangriga or Dangriga is not too far from Belize City, right.  So there was always that looking forward to the possibility of it happening in Dangriga but it was very, very real because we know that there are personalities who are originally from Dangriga who are members of these gang elements in Belize City.  So from time to time they visit Dangriga and from time to time too, we have to do our work and check up on them but, you know, it is something that you have to know how, basically how to do it because then you don’t want to aggravate a situation, right, because as Belizeans we are free to move from point A to point B.  So most of the times we check up on these guys when we know that they are in town.”