Jackers target JB Security and make away with bank deposits

A well orchestrated robbery was successfully executed in a busy section of Belize City by at least two robbers this morning. The amount of money that the jobbers got away with is yet to be determined. When Joseph Meighan Junior went to pick up deposits from the Alliance Bank and was heading reportedly to the Fisheries Department around ten-thirty, the last thing he expected was to be sandwiched in traffic by two vehicles. Meighan, a driver for the Blake building based JB Security, was also shot at and then robbed at gunpoint as he made his way down Freetown Road to drop off the cash.

As Meighan’s maroon Camry drove by the Cellular Plus store, a white tracker, which was stolen presumably to carry out the crime, drove up in front of the Camry from the opposite direction, forcing Meighan to stop. At the same time, another green car travelling from behind locked him in momentarily, then overtook him and the occupants fired several shots. This sent Meighan and another employee of the security company scurrying for cover inside Cellular Plus leaving the money bag behind. The robbers from the tracker seized the opportunity to commandeer the Camry with the money and attempted to flee, but as they reached Freetown Road at its junction with Barrack Road, they crashed into a cement fence. The green car that had blocked Meighan picked up their partners in crime and fled the scene while the tracker continued on its way towards Cinderella Plaza. This afternoon News Five visited with the Managing Director of JB’s Security, Joseph Meighan, who believed that the vehicle was being closely monitored. Meanwhile, Police Crimes Chief, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Julio Valdez said they were following several leads.

Voice of Joseph Meighan, Man. Dir., JB’s Security
“My company was doing some usual courier services for another establishment and upon reaching Cellular World on Freetown Road, two vehicle came and sandwiched the driver of my vehicle. The vehicle that did this, he stopped and the guys came out with guns shooting and our guards didn’t have time to react and they fled the vehicle and they gone off without the money.”

Marion Ali
“Who was the driver and was he accompanied by anybody? How much money did they get away with and do you think they were being followed?”

Voice of Joseph Meighan
“The driver is Junior, he is the driver for the company, he’s my son and he was accompanied by the senior supervisor Mr. Chuck who has been with us for nine years. Yes, they did get some money but we never know because we’re never involved in counting the money, we just pick up the cash from point A to point B.”

Marion Ali
“So he had just left from where?”

Voice of Joseph Meighan
“We left from the Alliance Bank en route to the establishment that they were taking the money to.”

Marion Ali
“Do you think that this was an inside job? Do you think that anybody from within your company might have tipped off or been involved in this incident in any way? How did they know exactly which car to target?”

Voice of Joseph Meighan
“Well in this case, whenever we do courier services, all calls come directly to my cell phone. So I receive all calls when it comes to that and I do the directors and send out the guys to do the operation.”

Marion Ali
“But in terms of the car itself, obviously, these people knew which car, when to pounce, who to target in order to get the money.”

Voice of Joseph Meighan
“They monitor us, we’re sure of that, we know that. They monitor us on a daily basis and so they know what to do. They know when to strike.”

Marion Ali
“Was this the first time that such an incident occurred with one of your pickups or delivery?”

Voice of Joseph Meighan
“This is the second time but the first time we were fortunate; they didn’t get anything. This time they got some money but, like I said, we don’t know how much money.”

Marion Ali
“I note that there are two bullet holes in the vehicle; one that shattered the glass on the driver side and one that penetrated the windshield. It’s still inexplicable how this could have happened and nobody got hurt, nobody got shot. Your comments on that?”

Voice of Joseph Meighan
“All I can say, God was with them. That’s as much as I can say; God was with them. I don’t have the answer for it either. I too cannot see how they did not get hurt but it’s the work of God so I see it.”

Marion Ali
“How is your son doing?”

Voice of Joseph Meighan
“He’s still shaken up but he’s my son and I have him properly trained so he will get over it and he will bounce back and realize that this is life, this is reality and we’ll bounce back from here and we’ll deal with it. We’ll deal with it, trust me.”

A.S.P Julio Valdez, O.C., C.I.B.
“The vehicle draws beside, the passenger jump out, grabbed the bag and jumped back in the vehicle and escaped.”

Marion Ali
“So there were studying their movements?”

A.S.P. Julio Valdez
“Apparently, somebody could have known beforehand.”

Marion Ali
“You have any suspects?”

A.S.P. Julio Valdez
“Not at this time, not at this time. We don’t have a suspect at this but time the police are still out there doing the investigation.”

Marion Ali
“How many suspects are you looking for?”

A.S.P. Julio Valdez
“Well, it has to be more than two because one had to be driving the vehicle and the other one, the passenger so it must be two or more.”

Marion Ali
“In the first vehicle.”

A.S.P. Julio Valdez
“In the first vehicle, so it must be more than three because as we mentioned we know it was more than two vehicles.”

Marion Ali
“What you can say in terms of, not vehicle that happened, but in terms of how far the investigation—I know it’s preliminary. Can you tell us where you are at right now?”

A.S.P. Julio Valdez
“Well, we are looking at—I tell you we are looking at all the suspects, we are following some leads we got. So we are looking at the possibilities to see if we can locate some suspects.”

Late this evening News Five learnt that investigators were in Hattieville looking for their prime suspects.