Belize blacklisted by U.S. for being on route for drugs bound for U.S.
This evening, major US agencies reported that Belize and El Salvador have been added to the United States blacklist of “major” drug producing and transit countries. One report in the US media says that the State Department officials have indicated that cartels which ship drugs to the US via Mexico are now using Belize and El Salvador to move narcotics produced in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. According to the Washington Post, the two countries have played a role in the drug trade that significantly affects the United States. It is also a reflection of increased drug trafficking through Central America. Belize’s blacklisting can be attributed in part to the massive bust on the Southern Highway last November. Eighty bales of Colombian cocaine valued at one hundred and forty million dollars were recovered from a drug plane that landed on the highway. It is by far the largest drug haul in Belize’s history and it resulted in charges against several police officers as well as a Customs boatman. The whereabouts of the plane that blocked the Southern Highway for hours has been in dispute because foreign press reports have placed it in Venezuela. But the Belize Defence Force has maintained that it remains in its custody.
Excerpt from the BBC:
Belize and El Salvador added to US drug blacklist. The blacklisting came on the day El Salvador celebrates independence from Spain. Officials said cartels were using the two Central American nations as routes for smuggling cocaine from South America north to Mexico and the US.
In total, 22 countries were included on the drugs blacklist. Three were deemed to have “failed demonstrably” in the fight against drugs – Burma, Bolivia and Venezuela. Correspondents say the inclusion of Belize and El Salvador on the list reflects the growing influence of Mexico’s powerful drugs cartels.
In El Salvador in particular, the Mexican cartels are thought to be forming alliances with street gangs known as “Maras”. On a visit to El Salvador last March, President Obama promised $200m (£139m) to help fight crime in Central America. Further international aid was promised at a regional security conference in June, amid concerns that small Central American states lack the resources to stand up to Mexico’s drugs cartels.
About two-thirds of the cocaine entering the US is thought to pass through Central America, and the region also has some of the highest murder rates in the world. The other Central American countries – Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama – were already on the blacklist, as were Mexico and major cocaine producers Colombia and Peru.
The US president is required to notify Congress each year of major drug producing and transit nations.
Whether PUP or UDP is in power we would have had this problem, having said that I don’t feel either parties have tried to tackle this problem properly.
Just another black moment for Belize and all belizeans ever since this pm barrow has come to be pm a blackness has covered Belize like a blanket of bad luck every aspect of life in the jewel is in the drain and anyone who still believes in this pm well you are a total idiot if you do as simple as that or you do not live in Belize you are living in the us and posting your stupid comments on here life here in Belize is like living in he’ll today and we the belizeans who are tired of it will put barrow on a plane to nowhere we have had enough que viva la revolucion.
They should charge Barrow and all his cronies for incompitence and misapropriation of Belizean tax-dollars.By the way why is Zenaida still in office after that big ponzi scheme that she ran from her city council office.
I’m not surprised. You have to be blind, deaf & stupid to not figure out that Belize is a major transit point and that the Zetas & Columbian Cartels spread their tentacles in high places in our nation.
Thanks to the Prime Minister we were added to the blacklist. That only shows that he might be the biggest drug dealer in the Jewel.
@Jose…this current prime minister or the past one are not entirely to blame. This issue is bigger than both of them combined. The Drug Cartel is a different world which i don’t pretend to fully understand, But it would be nice to see this PM show more leadership…time for action..and after seeing Barrow making deals with Belize City gangs does not help…so do you wonder why we got blacklisted…
The timing of this press release of Belize being blacklisted by the US is also fishy.If you all can recall,sometime last week a rumor was going around that Belize is going to vote for Palestine to be recognized as a state.I’ll leave you all to figure out the rest.Furthermore the geographical location of Belize has always make it convenient for not only drug traffickers but also human trafickers to use is as a port of entry.As a result it is in my opinion that Belize is being punished for supporting the Palestinians.
News5 to Bdf show me the plane……
We always knew that this was happening, why is the US so late in determining this with all the resources that they have at their disposal, now let’s sent the CIA down here on a covert operation so that we can expose the perpetrators, I am sure that we will find some of these dirty politicians at the root of this problem with two thirds of the cocaine entering the US passing through Belize this is a big problem for the US much bigger that the entire worth of Belize so maybe an invasion would be in order to straighten out this corrupted little country and lock up all those dirty politicians it’s a matter of national security for the US unlike the situation in Grenada but still so, the people of Belize has suffered much too long under these corrupt regimes.
Remember, My Legacy B 4 My People.
the US is the largest consumer of illegal and legal drugs…and they black list Belize?
Yes “Elgin Martinez” you are right. This is about Palestine and not about drugs…there are no drugs in Belize! The plane that landed in the South was a prank and there wasnt cocaine on board…it was flour for gachos!!
What a ignorant!!!!
on the other hand…there should be a blacklist about countries soooo adicted to drugs that they make it imposible for their neighbors to live in peace! USA would be the first on that list
Thank you Barrow!
C: I am not on this blog to write what you might agree with.I am here to ask the question that people like you are afraid to ask.You also seems to have a problem with comprehension.No where in my statement did i mention that the plane that landed in Belize didn’t have drugs on board.Last but not lest you can’t convince me to change my position on this issue.I would prefer die for what i believe than to have you change my mind.
I am sure that the PM, current and past, can and should be blaimed for not doing all they can to curtail on the transhipments of drugs to the US but if America did not have such an appetitie for the stuff there would be no market to sell it to.
So if America is the end user of these drugs it behoves them to do more to cut drug comsumption in the US and to kill it where it is grown. Belize is nothing more than a stop along the way to the US. Our geographical location is our problem here.
We do not have the might to black list them but the real problem is drug consumption in America and every country along the way suffers because of this, including Belize. We have some crooked cops and officers but they are only middle men and if the market would dry up they too would go away!
It seems as tho Belize is always getting a black eye from the international community with regards to grading on either finances or corruption….Wel all i can say is this, Belize is a third world country, well all know dat…courrption is rampant…we are poor etc etc etc…its not in Belize’s best interest to stop the passage of drugs to the US by way of Belize. If it was up to me i’d let all the drugs freely pass thru to their final destination….America is a rich powerful nation but they lack the will and the generousity to help a poor country like Belize “fight the war on drugs” ..given their vast wealth. America is always putting the squeeze on poor undeveloped countries like Belize just to suit their best interest….and when we resist to bow to their will…our country gets a bad rap internationally….an plz America, a measely $30,000 donation doesnt do squat to fight the passage of drugs…research and check how much money Mexico gets every year to fight drugs then ask GOB how much money they receive yearly from the US to fight drugs….
What is the U.S !@#$%^&* about? I thought we lived in a supply and demand economy…everyone knows that those making the demands keep the flow going, you cannot supply something that has no demand 🙂
I am so surprised at how the US is being blamed as having some kind of vendetta against Belize. Wake up people the fact is that Belize is a major flow of drugs into the US and other central american countires. Belizeans are also consumers of the drugs that is the cause of so much of the crime that occurs in the country. It has been known that there are those in high places who live the high life with ill gotten money. There are those in customs who close their eyes and turn their heads for a few dollars. There are those in law enforcement who especially in the southern part of the country who know of these drug mules passing through. So do not be angry with the US look at those who represent the country. Look at how they enter politics poor as a church mouse and in a few months they are building big houses and driving expensive cars. Look at the house the Mayour built, can you track the loan or was it built with the money missing from her creative fraudlent accounting system. She is a one dollar for the city, two dollars for me Mayor, that is her accounting system. Look at the poor people whose homes are falling off the post, or just caving in. Wake up people and start putting blame where it beongs and do something about it.
There is the need to increase security at our borders, and land of Belize but this cannot be done without capital and with corrupted officers. Wherever money flows from drug cartels, a wave of killing happens and if we give it a blind eye, Belize is next on the cartels list. We need to step up and do something, even the justice system corrupted. Money my pipil is wat mek pipil do things, sad it is. God save Belize, God save Belize.
Wake up Belize! Here in America we are not perfect but when something is unjust, we protest.. The people you have representing you are thieves that only care about themselves..it’s time all of Belize come together and fight! Until you do so, you will have poverty, be blacklisted, and better things won’t come. Belize is my heritage and I’m sadden to see the direction it’s going…
hahahaha, ah how the propoganda works its wonders.
– America is THE largest consumer of drugs (all drugs) on this side of the planet and am sure world wide.
– they are the # 1 reason why drugs are being made, thus having demand that will be supplied.
– You ever heard American Gov. acknowledge that they are the # 1 consumer of drugs and is the reason all these drugs are passing through countries like Belize, Mexico, Guatemala? I mean where else will the damn drugs pass through, it is due to the laws of physics that something will pass through the easiest path.
– Go on YouTube and watch The Extermination and you will understand, like Eldrin Martinez, the meaning behind this Palestinian vote. People in this country has no clue about how much strings the UN attach to puppet nations…and we are one.
Last but not least, the US can take that list and stick it where the sun don’t shine, I am sick of this bully nation and its corporate owned propaganda machine – the media – that crucifies any nation that stands up against their imperialism and corporatocracy. One tinny example is Omar Torrijos and Manuel Noriega in Panama and the control of the Panama Canal.
If Barrow truly has some balls, he would tell the nation of Belize what I just said and tell the US to stick their list, because we are only on it because of them. But, I doubt this, Barrow knows quite well what will happen to him if he ever dears defy the oil hungry USA and its ‘interests’ in Belize (oil).
People in Belize don’t have one goddamn clue what is going on; we are focused on ALL the wrong things; while our naturals resources are being siphoned off right before our eyes and we still can’t see!
ok, the US blames every country for producing drugs, while they are he biggest consumers. hmm.
how about the violence in Belize that is produced by the guns that they manufacture? and I’m looking only at our country, say central America, Africa, Europe, The world. The US has to stop blaming other countries and find solutions to the problems that they have created.
the big problem is in the highest ranking GOVT’ ministers involved but their is too much cover up and the GOB just does as if it doesn’t know anything……..too much CORRUPTIONNNNNNNNN, see what happened to the planes that landed with illegal immigrants at night in the international airport/PGIA it just gone undercover,the customs/immigration officer never got charged and the bigger fishes that approved the landings will never be caught neither…according to the US report on the black list for Belize its since 2009 that Belize has not been on the BLACKLIST, so nearly 12 years so why under dean barrow government they blacklist Belize now?
WTF Al, u have no love for Belize by defending the US…they labeled us as a drug producing country!! tell me why shouldnt i be mad about that???? if u can tell me….please tell me caz really i want to kno….where do we grow coca plants??…. where we manufacture cocaine???….Who do we have cooking it up??? ….the US should help us fight the war on drugs rather than jus giving us a bad rap…making a poor country even poorer by blacklisting us….damit the US has u brainwashed already….
This is so fricking funny, not ha ha, but hee, hee. The US should black list itself for consuming so much drugs.. Instead they pick on weak countries like Belize. They never blame themselves for the millions of consumes of dugs. The US is the #1 consumer of illegal drugs. Without a consumer, there would be no provider. Ah noh blame di politician them and the small time hustlers whe di mek lee moni from the US drug glut. If the US is really interested in stopping the drug trade, they should stop the consumers. Hee, hee.. Remember the scandal during the Reagan administrion; the CIA trade of drugs for guns, that started the crack epidemic. Was the CIA and US blacklisted then, hee, hee.
You and I really don’t know how long the U.S., it’s allies or the world court has already been in Belize, but I bet they know alot more about Barrow than we do. They have to know what is going on with the other crimes also. They know.
Although this label may be injust, the Belizean people need to rise up and fight for each other. Pointing fingers will only bring us down to the level of this list. Instead, we should need to come together for true justice. Only we can make our nation better by our own integrity and letting our voices be heard. If we want a good nation, we have to be the best we can be and expect no less.