B.D.F. burn weed fields near Caracol
The destruction of a marijuana plantation by the police and B.D.F. may seem like a routine event since it is so frequently reported. But if you are imagining a group of soldiers jumping out of a truck, running to a field just off the highway, counting and burning the plants and then getting back to base in time for dinner, you couldn’t be more wrong. Soldiers often have to trudge for hours over rugged terrain, sleep with mosquitoes and brave life threatening situations to do the job. As News Five’s reporter Janelle Chanona and cameraman George Tillett found out when they joined one of the patrols last week, the fight against marijuana cultivation is hard, and anything but routine.
Much of the Belizean border with Guatemala is an imaginary line. Most of the areas around the border are unpopulated and remote, making almost perfect sites for illegal activity. But while the frontier may not be visible to the eye, the Belize Defense Force still must defend it against all threats.
Janelle Chanona
“This is the Valentin Forest Reserve. It has been flagged as an area, by the B.D.F., as a hot spot for agrarian encroachment, illegal entry and marijuana cultivation.”
On Monday, September sixth Foxtrot Company, stationed at Camp Belizario in the Cayo District, received from a B.D.F. air patrol the coordinates of three marijuana plantations in the Valentin area. A reconnaissance patrol was immediately dispatched. By Tuesday morning the patrol had located the fields, their cultivators and houses. All are in Belizean territory.
TUESDAY, 21:00 HOURS
Captain Gilbert Swaso, Commandant, Foxtrot Company
“It is confirmed that there are a minimum of five armed men in the area of the Valentin Camp. These arms that they carry are shotguns, machetes and you could expect for them to have other weapons.”
TUESDAY, 23:00 HOURS
Patrol Commander Second Lieutenant Nuñez carefully explains the plan of attack using a visual aid to outline the area. The patrol receives their rations and ammunition for the operation ahead. Everyone is ordered to bed.
WEDNESDAY, 03:50 HOURS
In the predawn hours of Wednesday, September eighth, Foxtrot Company leaves Camp Belizario heading for the ancient ruins of Caracol. While most visitors to the site come here to see remnants of the Mayan civilization, the B.D.F. believes that Caracol may also serve as a drop off point for drugs.
WEDNESDAY, 07:20 HOURS
After a quick breakfast, we move out due east. Most of the soldiers have never been on an eradication mission. The terrain is rugged but the soldiers appear fit and focussed.
WEDNESDAY, 09:30 HOURS
Hidden in a spot out of the sight, sound and smell of the weed growers, we rendezvous with part of the reconnaissance patrol that stayed behind to monitor the cultivators and make sure they kept to their normal routine. Patrol Commander Nuñez again reviews the plan of attack. Mistakes could prove fatal.
In silence, we head in the direction of the marijuana fields, and find that in the middle of the dense brush, a patch has been cleared, boasting mature marijuana plants. We mark the location and continue in the direction of the houses.
WEDNESDAY 10:00 HOURS
In an abandoned cornfield, we find an illegal immigrant. He refuses to cooperate, insisting he is in Guatemalan territory. He refuses to hand over his machete and a small blade he is using to reap corn. We have already verified our position with the Global Positioning System or GPS and find we are a half-mile inside the Belizean border. He refuses to believe he is in Belize. In Spanish the man tells the patrol he knows the B.D.F. like to kill Guatemalans and promises if they approach him, he will attack.
Soldiers discussing problem
“The main thing is to disarm this man, minimum force because we could use stick and break the man’s hand if we have to, to get the machete, you understand?
That justifiable. The man already said that he does not want to go. He prefers to die. This will bring up a border issue and this is going to Foreign Affairs as well.
If we had caught the man in the weed field no problem, we would have had more evidence. But we’re not dealing with just the weed chief; we are dealing with the whole.
But you see these guys have the mentality, they feel like they are in Guatemala. They will always tell you that.”
The man must be dealt with quickly and quietly. In the silence, the human voice carries far and may have already warned the weed men. The preliminary plan was to use long sticks to hit the machete out of the man’s hand. But if the man retaliates, following military regulations, he will be shot. The military does not shoot to injure, they shoot to kill. Every bullet is a life.
Things have been made worse by an incident three months earlier in which a Guatemalan was shot and killed in a similar situation. Although the B.D.F. was cleared of wrongdoing, they are very sensitive to the political realities. In the end, two officers are left to guard the man so the operation can continue. We are not out of the cornfield when the guards shout that the man has escaped.
WEDNESDAY 10:45 HOURS
We rush to the area where the houses are, thinking that the man might circle back to warn his neighbors but his voice alone has done the deed. Warm tortillas are still on the “comal” but the area is deserted. We find approximately twenty pounds of dried marijuana and a bag of marijuana seeds. Second Lieutenant Nuñez is disappointed that the man escaped but feels it was probably the best thing for all concerned.
Second Lt. Ravei Nuñez, Platoon Commander
“Initially I had made the decision that he was to be detained regardless of the amount of force needed to be used but considering his determination not to be detained and to injure anyone who attempted to detain him, would have meant that either we would have had to seriously injure him or one of my men would have seriously been injured.”
Despite the fact that there will be no conviction, the mission is deemed a success. Because of the drugs found in and around the houses, everything must be destroyed. A sample of the marijuana is taken for exhibit purposes. We return to the marijuana field to destroy the plants there and although it didn’t look like much, a count is made of just over one thousand plants.
Second Lt. Ravei Nuñez
“Satisfied that we found everything that we came here to find. But I believe there are more to be found and we need to conduct more recces (recognizance) in the area definitely.”
WEDNESDAY 12:30 HOURS
Janelle Chanona
“Although the B.D.F. say they aren’t winning the war against drugs, they don’t think they are losing it either and will continue to find and destroy as many marijuana plantations as possible, countrywide, especially in those areas they see as hot spots. Reporting for News Five, I’m Janelle Chanona.”
Besides honorary soldier Janelle Chanona, there was one real female soldier on the patrol. Our thanks to Lieutenant John Borland for his assistance in this story.
