High powered weapons seized on Ambergris Caye

Two men were denied bail and remanded to Her Majesty’s Prison until February seventh on possession of high powered prohibited weapons. The two were nabbed with an AK 47 assault rifle and a forty-five caliber handgun during a Coast Guard operation on Sunday afternoon at Northern Ambergris Caye. Coast Guard Search Mission Coordinator, Lt. Col. John Borland, shared how the interception occurred.

Lt. Col. John Borland, Search Mission Coordinator
“Well, the Coast Guard was on patrol in the area of Rocky Point. Rocky Point is located about ten miles north of San Pedro Town itself. These Coast Guard persons were based out of the F.O.B, the Forward Operating Base at Bacalar Chico, so they were on patrol and conducting what we call a reconnaissance patrol in the area when they happened upon these individuals. These people were actually camped in a covert location. The patrol came upon them tactically, of course, and launched what I would call, not an attack or assault, but an operation on their base camp and happened to arrest these two individuals and seize two high powered firearms.”

“They were caught very much unawares to the effect that they didn’t even put up any resistance or a fight. They were caught unprepared. One of the men, in fact, were cooking and the other one was in the process of tuning a A.M/F.M. radio and the weapons were laid out beside them within arms reach.”

Twenty-seven year old Andrew Swan and twenty-four year old Juan Cus were each charged with two counts of Keeping a Prohibited Firearm and Unlicensed Ammunition. They were also charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance for thirty-eight grams of weed which the Coast Guard found. Borland says the remote area near Mexico is well known as a hotspot of illegal activity, including drugs, gun running and routine smuggling.