Customs and police officials are not saying a word about a container load of arms which reportedly arrived from the People’s Republic of China (mainland) late last month and which has disappeared from the Port of Belize compound without a trace.
The container was consigned to some unidentified businessman in the Corozal Free Zone, and may have been intended for the Popular Revolutionary Army in Mexico which is fighting a hit-and-run battle against President Felipe Calderon, or for the powerful drug lords of Mexico who are also opposed to Calderon.
Intelligence people from abroad who had been tracking this container, were expecting it to show up at the Corozal Free Zone, where there was hope to intercept it.
But the container never reached the Free Zone. It was diverted on its way through Ladyville, and discharged.
Two days of Reporter efforts to reach Gregory Gibson, Comptroller of Customs, proved futile. He was never around to take any calls.
Ian Haylock, who heads the Customs investigating unit, was likewise not available.
Officials of the Barrow Government are said to be appalled at the alleged level of smuggling taking place through the Belize City Port.
After the disappearance of the arms container, another container, invoiced as medicine, showed up at the Port and was set aside for inspection.
But before the inspection could take place, the container was illegally removed from the compound and trucked to a section of the Coastal Road where it was stripped of its contents.
No one really knows what this second box contained. Some are saying it was counterfeit goods destined for the Free Zone while others are speculating that this second container also brought in an arms shipment.
The criminal network working with container loads of smuggled goods appears to be well co-ordinated, well informed, and well financed, and is able to count on the strong support of senior Customs officials.
Reports of a smuggling network operating out of the Port compound in Belize City has been hugely successful at landing containers and slipping them out to destinations overland.
It is suspected that shipments of illicit drugs for the Chinese community in Belize may also be coming from the Middle East through the local Port, which is not equipped with sniffing dogs to detect illegal drugs.
Police reports are that a team of senior police officers have been assigned to carry out an investigation and that their work, which is being operated out of the Police Headquarters in Belmopan City, has been met with little cooperation from the Customs Department.
A senior police officer would only say that the Customs Department has been dragging its feet when it comes to providing vital information to the police. Read More

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