Ambassador Oscar Arnold Has Official Details on Tulum Murders
Tonight, News Five has an exclusive interview with the Belizean Ambassador to Mexico, Oscar Arnold, about the murders of two Belizeans in Tulum. Last week, the reports from that Mexican town went viral after a video recording of the scene was posted. Worst fears were confirmed for several families from Corozal when they learnt that their loved ones, who were supposedly working in other parts of Belize, were among the victims in the brazen afternoon attack by gunmen in Tulum. As News Five’s Duane Moody finds out tonight, the men entered Mexico illegally and the motive for the killing is still not known. And contrary to social media reports, one man is still alive.
Duane Moody, Reporting
The family and friends of Christian Folgariat, Gladimir Eduard Chable and Rayan Aquino are still without answers as to what transpired last Thursday in the Mexican Town of Tulum in the State of Quintana Roo. Folgariat and Chable were executed when gunmen stormed an area; Aquino fortunately survived the attack and is recovering. While Mexican authorities have been tight-lipped as to the motive behind the vicious killings, official details are now being shared.
Oscar Arnold
Oscar Arnold, Belizean Ambassador to Mexico
“We’ve received official information that the incident did take place after we provided the documentation and certified that yes Belizeans were involved and were the victims. We now have in hand the official coroner’s report that has the cause for death for Mister Christian Folgariat which is trauma caused by a firearm projectile to the thoracic area and for Mister Chable, it was a haemorrhage due to the fracture at the base of the skull caused again by a firearm projectile. So that is the official information that we have. We’ve been in communication with the Head of their State Police as well as the Homicide/Murder Unit for their police force in that state. Their investigation is still ongoing; they have said that they are questioning a few people. They are looking at witness reports of trying to locate other people who were in the vicinity at that time. But they have not ventured or cautioned a reason as to why this attack took place.”
Belizean Ambassador to Mexico, Oscar Arnold says that in the wake of the murders, the authorities have taken Aquino into custody as it has since been determined that the men had entered Mexico illegally.
Oscar Arnold
“We got word where Mister Aquino was. He was injured, but was being treated for his injuries and after being treated for his injuries, he was handed over to INM, which is the Mexican Immigration for immigration violations.”
Although based in Mexico City, the Belizean Embassy has been working with its counterparts in Chetumal to allow for the bodies of Folgariat and Chable to be brought back to the country and handed over to the families for burial.
Oscar Arnold
“Over the weekend, we coordinated with our Consul in Chetumal, Doctor Montero for the families to provide all the information that they needed so that the bodies could be prepared and so that the relevant documentations can be prepared for the bodies to be transported to the border and handed over to the families for them to have some type of closure.”
Meanwhile Aquino will be processed for immigration offenses in Mexico and then repatriated. Ambassador Arnold says that a request has been made for that process to be expedited; hopefully within a week’s time.
Oscar Arnold
“For the Mexicans what they do is really process them through the system, register them through their system and they try to repatriate them back home. The process of dragging them through the court system, charging and then holding them is really not what they do over here. And rightfully so, they are trying to make sure that they don’t have a backlog of people in the system. And so in the case of Mister Aquino, because of the circumstances under which immigration and the police came to know Mister Aquino, we’ve asked that special considerations be made for his safety and for the repatriation process to be expedited where possible.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
