Since the start of the year crime has surged – and in terms of murders, 2008 is on track to be a record year. And if you don’t believe the headlines, check the stats: in the month of March alone there were 9 murders in Belize City. And so with mounting political and social pressures – police have to do something and that’s where operation “cycle breaker” comes in. It might not have a catchy title but the department’s senior command hopes that it will catch criminals. Our 7NEWS team was on the street at dawn to see the action.
Jules Vasquez Reporting,
The operation started before dawn. We found the Police and BDF here on Banak Street just after 5. Three teams of over 50 men were deployed across key areas. Commander of the operation is Crispin Jeffries.
Crispin Jeffries Sr., Assistant Commissioner of Police
“This morning we started an operation called, ‘Operation Cycle Breaker.’ We believe the cycle of violence that we are seeing needs urgent attention. We believe the number of incidents of violent crimes, particularly on the deeper part of the south side of Belize City is becoming unbearable to most parties around Belize City.”
So the police have brought in to the city basically for an anti-crime blitz.
Crispin Jeffries Sr.,
“To increase the number of police interdictions, acting on information to it, be it drugs, firearms, and to search for wanted persons and suspected
persons to be stopped and searched around the city.”
And this morning, police were the ones doing the searching – here at Darren Banks’ home on Oleander Street, this residence on Central American Boulevard, and the area between Lakeview and Mayflower Streets. Police and BDF swarmed and secured the areas, showing a strong presence just as the sun was peering out above the rooftops. And while the sight of Jeffries and a gun toting team of soldiers striding down Central American Boulevard at dawn may seem like grandstanding – Jeffries says the show of force is critical
Crispin Jeffries Sr.,
“There is a need for us to arrest the situation, we can’t have this thing spiral. We particularly touched the area in Yabra known as Southside Gangsters or Graveyard Gangsters. The young persons in that area are headed by a young male person we all know as Andrew Trapp and the other group is the group from the Oleander Street area and that fellow who heads that group is believed to be Darren Banks. We are also thinking that the two groups have been linking together and are creating a problem. Similarly we have targetted several residences in the Lakeview Street and Banak Street area where we believe the rivalry is taking place.”
And the meant looking for guns hidden in the bushes behind one suspect’s address – prowling in mangrove thickets, and even looking in a dog house. But at this area off Central American Boulevard, these soldiers trained for jungle warfare came up with nothing in this urban jungle.
But here in the densely overgrown area between Lakeview and Mayflower Streets – an area police wouldn’t dare to search at night – there was something. Though the bush seemed impenetrable police plowed in and our cameras followed to find this clearing beneath an almond tree – which looks harmless enough. But a closer search turned up a weed bud. Not much but that and this empty roll of duct tape told police that this completely concealed area is used to package marijuana. And trudging just 30 feet deeper into the
green tangle, buried in the undergrowth, police made their find: at least 4 pounds of marijuana, neatly wrapped and waterproofed, curiously packaged along with almond leaves.
And nearby police found another stash – which explains where all that duct tape went. And all around we saw holes to burrow into – in this naturally cultivated hiding spot. And that’s why this seat perched atop the almond tree near Lakeview Street was also targeted because police say it’s an observation post for the drug operation within the bush.
And while the modern hieroglyphs spoke against the lawmen, they escalated their search of the area prowling even at this dump area with an m-16. And it did pay off across the way on Lakeview Street they continued searching, coming up with another pair of marijuana stashes. Good seizures but no arrests - and we had to ask, what’s all of it worth?
Crispin Jeffries Sr.,
“The young persons out here now using the marijuana see it as a right of passage to smoke weed and believes that gives them the right to act certain ways. But also they see it as a way of making money. You can hear the talk shows, one in about every ten callers calls in to tell the police leave them alone, deal with the street problem, the gang problem, and the gun problem and let them smoke their weed. But they are interrelated.”
And so whether it’s weapons, drugs or just random searches, police sat it’s on: they will maintain this heightened presence for a while.
Crispin Jeffries Sr.,
“So yes there is a reason for us to be out here today to try and give a break, get the young persons to understand that we will take you out and remove you from the community so that the community can get a breather. Hopefully it is long enough for them to see and change their ways. Hopefully the legislators will make some changes to the laws and then we will be able to get longer removal periods for some of these persons we are dealing with.”
And while the police may have made some strides today – most likely it’s the show of force not the seizures that they hope will make a difference.
The operation resumed this afternoon and will continue in the coming days.
