Police and B.D.F. Soldiers Patrolling Borders for Border Jumpers

Chester Williams

Guatemala and Mexico are registering an increasing number of positive COVID-19 cases and while our borders are closed, the threat of a spill to this side of the border is still possible. The borders are porous and several persons have already been detained, arrested, and charged for illegal entry. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams says that police officers along with B.D.F. soldiers are patrolling all border hotspots to catch border jumpers.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“We have boat patrols in the B.D.F. in the Rio Hondo and then we have mobile patrols in the Botes Area and the Santa Cruz area. We also look at the Calla Creek Area between Belize and Guatemala, as well as Arenal. Then we have Jalacte. So these areas that we find best to man with a view to prevent reduce the amount of persons who are coming over illegal. We do have a patrol in the Arenal Area, a combine police and B.D.F. patrol and they have a vehicle that they use to patrol the Arenal road and the border areas and so our presence is there and that is not that we are going to say that c9nclusinf that no illegal crossing is happening because I have said that the border is so wide. We cannot cover it all but we try our best as much as we can. I can tell you that we intercept a number of persons who try to come over the country illegally and we want to ensure that that continue so that people who may want to do it get the message that if you cross the border to Belize you will be caught. And when we catch these persons it is important that they be punished swiftly and severely so that the rest get the message that you know what we cannot  take no chance and go across to Belize because if we are caught the consequence will be x, y and z. And that will serve as an effective deterrent for those wishing to do so.”