Police detain suspects in arms smuggling ring
Belize City police have detained three people, one of whom is highly suspected of being the point man in a plot to get more guns on the streets. News Five’s Patrick Jones reports.
According to Inspector Edward Broaster, police intelligence information led them to this house on East Collet Canal in Belize City where illegal firearms were suspected of being stashed.
Inspector Edward Broaster, Director, C.Y.D.P.
“We had information that there were firearms in this building and we went and we searched the building and we did not discover any firearms but we discovered evidence of a plot to either import or they have already brought in firearms into the country. And there were some goods there, 2 televisions a VCR and so, a vehicle battery of which a members of the Criminal Investigation Branch suspected to be stolen goods. And they brought it to the police station and we have detained 3 persons who were in the building at the time.”
Those that were detained are twenty three year old Philip McKay, twenty four year old George Welch and twenty five year old Kelvin Francis.
Q: “Was that letter directed to any of the suspects in custody?”
Inspector Edward Broaster
“We believe the letter was directed to one of the suspects who was deported recently from the United States. It was in his room and he denied that that was his room and he had a key to a padlock of which locked that room that we found the letter in. The letter has no date on it, does not have any name on there but we believe that it’s for, from or directed to the person that had been deported.”
That deportee has been identified as Kelvin Francis. Meanwhile, some other residents of the house on East Collect Canal, complained that the police vandalized the building – a claim Broaster and other members of the team that raided the dwelling deny.
Inspector Edward Broaster
“The building has not been vandalized by the police. We went in there, yes without warrant…we don’t need a warrant for firearms. We met three persons in the building, we searched the building in their presence and we did a thorough search I must say, we did a thorough search. And we did not discover the firearms that we were looking for.”
Broaster says the police will continue to work hard to ensure that those weapons do not reach their target destination.
Inspector Edward Broaster
“We just have to get together our intelligence mechanism more effectively and we are working on it. The investigation continues and we’ll be trying to recover these firearms from the street, if and whenever they come to the country if they are not here already.”
Up to newstime no criminal charges had been brought against either Welch, Francis or McKay and police investigations are continuing. Patrick Jones, for News Five.
Although the owners of the confiscated television sets and VCR have been to the C.I.B. office on Queen Street to make a claim, the police have not released the equipment because no concrete evidence of ownership could be provided.
