Police took four guns off the streets today. Two of them were high powered assault rifles – an AK47 and AR 15. They were seized in raids this morning in Belize City. Superintendent Edward Broaster led the operation and he says no arrests have been made as yet.
Supt. Edward Broaster,
“We put on the streets additional manpower where we conducted raids and as a result we had recovered two assault rifles, one being the AR-15 that Mr. Whylie spoke about as well as the AK-47 along with a variety of ammunition. We will continue to be tactical on the streets in an endeavor to address the situation as best as possible and we are hoping that the public will continue to give us their support as they have done in the past and what they have done for us today.
The AR-15 rifle was discovered on Oleander Street in an abandoned building along with 28 rounds of 5.56 ammunition. The AK-47 was just recovered this afternoon at an undisclosed location, we don’t have that information to provide you as yet.”
Marion Ali, News 5
“Mr. Broaster any of these weapons that you found, are they believed to
have been used in any of the recent shootings?”
Supt. Edward Broaster,
“These firearms, no.”
Keith Swift,
Any arrests made?
Supt. Edward Broaster,
“No arrests have been made as yet with these assault rifles. I know for sure that the AK-47, we have an ongoing investigation and an arrest may be made in that recovery of the AK 47.”
ACP Allan Whylie, Commander – Eastern Division
“We know the serial numbers were scratched off so hopefully forensics will be able to assist us with that and that may be able to confirm where some of these weapons are coming from.”
Police also recovered 3 pounds of weed. No arrests were made for that either. This morning’s raids were part of an operation which police say will continue through the long Easter weekend. Assistant Commissioner of Police – and Commander of Eastern Division Allan Whylie says patrols will be beefed up, new recruits will be deployed, and there will be more armed BDF soldiers along with police officers in hot spots.
ACP Allan Whylie,
“We’ve stepped up our patrols, we will be having additional officers on the streets, including recruits. At any period of time we have between eight and ten vehicles on the street. We are working towards trying to put two additional vehicles on the streets. We also have overlap between the various shifts to ensure that during peak periods we have additional bodies on the street. We have the joint BDF/Police joint combination foot patrols in various areas, we’ve been moving some of those around to try to assist us in terms of the shootings we’ve been having. We’ve stepped up our stop and search operations in an effort to try to apprehend some of these persons before they commit an offense or to try to prevent some of these incidents.”
