Customs unearths firearms in barrels…

In another major story tonight, three firearms, two of them high powered, a home-made silencer and a cache of matching ammunition were discovered today. The bust was made by the Customs Department as officers inspecting a shipment of goods spotted a barrel originating from Los Angeles, California. The two small weapons and ammunition were stashed in a fire safe. A News Five team is just back from the Customs compound with this latest find and has information from the Officer in charge of Enforcement, Ian Haylock.

Ian Haylock, Enforcement Officer, Customs Dept.
“Today we had a consolidated shipment that was consigned to an importer from the Corozal District and approximately about twelve o’clock the container was released from the Port Authority compound and brought into our Customs compound for keen inspection. The goods, which were consigned to various other importers because the individual who brought this shipment is only actually a freight forwarder. That means that the shipment inside that container are consigned to various individuals. All the goods were offloaded from the container whereby a detailed inspection was done by the officers from the enforcement section. And this was approximately about three o’clock, a barrel was opened whereby a detailed inspection was done and the items shown here were found inside that particular barrel. For example, one twelve gauge shotgun, a tech-nine eleven mm automatic weapon, along with a silencer and an extended clip and a regular clip, a fire safe containing two boxes with a hundred rounds, a twenty-two calibre pistol was also found inside that safe along with a hundred and six rounds, a box containing nine mm bullets containing fifty rounds, and also inside the barrel, was some miscellaneous wearing apparel along with some assorted groceries.”

Marion Ali
“What really got your attention to pin point this particular container?”

Ian Haylock
“This particular shipment was not pin pointed, Marion, this was an inspection hat would have been done on all the cargo that was in this container. But based on the meticulous nature of the officer and going into details in regards to the inspection, this was when these item was discovered in that particular barrel. These will be handed over to the A.D.U. whereby a continuous and ongoing investigation with obviously be pursued after that.”

Marion Ali
“So it originated from where and the person from Corozal, is he an operator in the Free Zone?”

Ian Haylock
“No, he is not an operator in the Free Zone. These goods were not consigned to the Free Zone and the shipment originally originated from L.A. where it was trucked from L.A. to Houston whereby it was shipped from Houston to the Port of Belize compound.”

Jules Vasquez
“Would you say speculatively that other arms have been brought into the country using this method and perhaps it slipped by Customs inspectors?”

Ian Haylock
“Jules, at this point I do not want to speculate. With regards to Customs, we try to give only the facts. Speculation at this point may lead to a broad overview of perception from the public. I would not want to do that.”

Marion Ali
“But how stringent are your measures, are your searches as you just said.”

Ian Haylock
“Marion, very stringent. These are the results of the mechanism that we have put in place that have yielded these results and this will continue throughout this high season as we are leading up to the Christmas.”