Illegal Weapons Connected to Illegal Marijuana Trade, Says Minister Musa

We have reported on two murders in the Old Capital over the last five days, that of Jasmine Domingo and Nicholi Rhys. Both individuals died as a result of gunshot injuries. It is no secret that many of these criminals employ the use of illegal firearms and ammunitions in the execution of these heinous crimes. According to Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa, annually police officers remove more than a hundred illegal guns off the streets of Belize City. But, where are these weapons coming from and why is it such a difficult task to rid the city of them altogether? Minister Musa provided a response.

Kareem Musa

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs

“We have a very thriving illegal cannabis trade in this country. It has been one of the points that I have been harping on over the last two and a half years as one of the reasons why we need to create regulations to put regulations in place to govern the cannabis industry because it exists. Let us not hide from that. I think a lot of the times it’s so taboo that we don’t want to speak of it. But we are a cannabis consuming country. And every time a shipment of cannabis comes in from Mexico, because that is where the cannabis is coming in from, The cartels in Mexico are providing guns to individuals on the streets of Belize, and in particular, Belize City. And we’re not talking one or two guns. Every single year, the police department recovers over a hundred guns off the streets. That’s a lot of guns, but those are only the guns that the police are able to recover. Imagine how many hundreds more are out there being hidden by these criminals, and so we always have to have these operations in place.”