HARD HITTING! When the Good Guys Turn Bad…

By: Mike Rudon Jr.

Here’s a question – when’s the last time you heard about a really big drug bust in Belize? Not the discovery of a couple pounds of marijuana during a house search and seizure or the confiscation of a ‘roach’ off a ‘youth man’ hanging on the block. Not that kind of drug bust, but the one which makes big news – the one where members of the media and the GOB press office are invited to some convenient furnace to watch over the destruction of hundreds and hundreds of pounds of cocaine neatly wrapped in 1 kilo bundles. It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it? In fact, the last such momentous occasion is outside the boundary of recent memory. So what exactly happened? Did big-time drug dealers go on holiday since the UDP got into office? Has Belize ceased to be a trans-shipment mecca between South America and the US? Are the narcotics cartels so afraid of Minister of National Security Carlos Perdomo that they decided to take up other hobbies?

In the news the other night, just as the United States handed over a couple hundred thousand dollars worth of equipment to Belize for the fight against drugs, there were reports of a plane landing somewhere in the Orange Walk district. Our authorities are calling it an ‘unconfirmed rumor’ because they somehow haven’t been able to locate the plane. Credible reports are that the plane was a drug plane. Not that long ago, a drug plane landed on the Northern Highway near to Orange Walk, coincidentally just a day or so after UDP OW Area Representative Gaspar Vega was sworn in as Acting Prime Minister as the PM left the country. Despite a BDF base and heavy Police presence in OW, the ‘good guys’ somehow arrived after all the narcotics had left the scene.

And there are many other stories – of the famed Anti-Drug Unit being deployed on operations in the far south while a shipment slips through the northern border; of riot drills involving all the special units of the Police being called, attendance mandatory, leaving a window open for serious drug activity in other areas of the country; of officers receiving instructions to cease and desist their surveillance of suspected ‘large-scale’ dealers and areas of interest. The stories inside the Police Department are never-ending, and point to a network of corruption which practically defies belief. At the handing over of equipment last week, Minister of National Security Carlos Perdomo very nonchalantly made reference to the corruption within the Police Department, which indicates that he is either completely clueless as to how bad it really is, or completely on board – you take your pick.

Writing about the Police Department in a negative light is generally bad business because it invites repercussions of a distasteful nature. And let’s face it – almost absolute authority added to bad intentions makes for much unpleasantness. But the corruption which has wrapped its slimy tentacles around the ‘good guys’ demands some sort of comment, at the very least. Our ‘good guys’ – and that moniker applies also to those at the highest levels of government who should be the good guys, have apparently gone very, very bad.

One case which stands out is the recent execution of a young man who was driven to his death by a ‘friend.’ Even as the story was reported the holes in it were crater-sized and nothing seemed to add up. The ‘friend’ was briefly in Police custody then released. He left the country immediately. There was obvious Police involvement in the murder. Now there is a supposed internal investigation into the murder, more than likely because the family of the murdered youth is well-known and influential and no doubt have put pressure on Perdomo. Not so long ago another youth was found murdered and his family pointed to Police involvement, but nobody recalls an investigation into that murder. And how about the assassination of a Chinese businessman in Orange Walk? The man who ordered the hit was allowed to leave the country, and fingers pointed to a massive greasing of palms within the Police Department and the DPP’s office. Now nobody seems to know what became of that case.

There are high-ranking officers who are said to be on the payrolls of certain ‘businessmen’ in the city. The money which was seized in the million dollar Money-Gram case turned up short more than $150,000 when it finally reached to Court. Evidence in certain cases is routinely ‘lost’ somewhere in Police custody. Guns seized by the Police turn up back on the streets more often than not, back in the hands of criminals. And there is so much more.

In fact, a majority of the equipment which was just handed over by the US to the Police Department – which included digital cameras, night vision glasses, bullet-proof vests, laptop computers and GPS equipment will probably be on the streets sooner rather than later and in ‘private’ hands. That’s the reality of things in Belize right now.

Our politicians lack the will to take a serious stance against crime. Our politicians lack the will, for one reason or the other, to fight against drugs in our country. There is credible word that more than one of our politicians is involved in the running of drugs. When our policy-makers choose not to fight organized crime, so to speak, the men and women in uniform will eventually follow suit. See, it’s like this – at the very top our policymakers are corrupt or negligent or both. That branches out into officers who either choose the ‘if you can’t beat them join them’ philosophy, or the officer who will choose the ‘why fight a battle you’re not supposed to win’ philosophy. Either way, it’s bad news for our very small nation. We’re already seeing the results of that.

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