Is recovered weapon part of stolen B.D.F. cache?

It has been nine days since it was disclosed that forty-two weapons went missing from the Belize Defence Force headquarters at Price Barracks in Ladyville. While it is considered the biggest theft, to date none of the weapons have been recovered from the streets. On Thursday police released the name and picture of ex-BDF soldier Dennis Ireland of Mahogany Street in connection with the stolen B.D.F. weapons. Today News Five was called out to Belama Phase Four. When our news team got there, we were told by one resident that police had stormed the neighborhood and fired shots during a chase of four young men known in the area. Several uniformed and civilian clothes officers, including females, were conducting a search in an empty lot that adjoins a bungalow house. Residents claimed that the four men were beaten up by the police officers. Our News team was held off at a distance and police did not wish to comment. Residents told us off camera that the police recovered a loaded weapon from the men which is believed to be from among the cache stolen from the B.D.F. headquarters. We observed what looked like a weapon being taken away from the scene in a trash bag, but cannot confirm any of the specifics. The four handcuffed men, whose faces were covered with shirts by the police, were carted away in the back of a police truck. The weapons were discovered missing last Wednesday. A report by CEO Allen Whylie, intended to be kept confidential, says that the armory at Price Barracks was not checked for two weeks so that the date of the burglary is not known. Whylie also reports what amounts to negligence among the ranks of those who should have been responsible for guarding and checking on the weapons. So far, no one in the B.D.F. has been held responsible.