Tens of millions of dollars went up in flames today in Spanish Lookout. That’s where police destroyed the more than ten million pseudo-ephedrine pills that were illegally imported into the country. Last week Friday night at around 10pm bandits tried to steal the pills from the Port of Belize but that was foiled. As we said the pills were worth the risk because they are the main ingredient in crystal meth and are worth millions of dollars on the streets. And that’s why today’s destruction was conducted at a secret location. 7NEWS went to the location in Spanish Lookout and Keith Swift has the story.
Keith Swift Reporting,
7NEWS was there as the gang of prison inmates ripped open the boxes containing thousands of these white bottles. Inside each bottle is a thousand of these pills. They are called pseudo-ephedrine and they are illegal in Belize – and that’s why the bottles were thrown into the incinerator and as you can see – destroyed. Customs and police oversaw the operation. Crispin Jeffries was the commander.
Cripsin Jeffries, Assistant Commissioner of Police
“What we are destroying is the formulas that are a part of the list of items that were banned as a part of a piece of amendment to a legislation passed on the 18th June of this year which prohibits the importation of ephedrine into Belize. We made an application for this to be destroyed and it was granted
and we are in that process. In this process there is the presence of the police, members of the judiciary, a Justice of the Peace, our police exhibit keeper, people from the forensic unit, and the other agencies as well as the case officer in charge of the investigation.”
Magistrate Harrison Huelett kept a watchful eye on the process. His job was to ensure that all the pills, numbered at over ten million, were destroyed.
Harrison Huelett, Magistrate
“My role as Magistrate here is to supervise and see that the drug is properly destroyed so that everybody and the John Public can see that this drug will not be placed on the street so I am acting as a judiciary officer to see it is properly destroyed by fire. When the Customs and Police Department received the drugs for investigation purposes, they had numbered the boxes one by one. So we made a copy of the list that a Justice of the Peace, the Customs officer, and the Commissioner of Police will have a copy. And as soon as box
is destroyed we tick it off the list so it is accounted for.”
And while the pills are going up in smoke, this isn’t the end of the story because they are still the subject of a police investigation.
Cripsin Jeffries,
“There is an ongoing investigation and there is a company in the Free Zone. We understand that the owners have changed and we’re looking at those persons as having direct contact with the importation or direct responsibility for the importation of this.”
Keith Swift,
Do foresee the arrest of any Customs officer or any evidence of collusion?
Cripsin Jeffries,
“At this time we have nothing to indicate that.”
Keith Swift,
What message do you hope this will send to the people who continue to try to import this illegal stuff thinking that they could get it through Belize?
Cripsin Jeffries,
“Well certainly I think the message will be that they are now aware that that loophole that was there is being closed. In the past this may have been a part of what has transited through Belize just like in the past cocaine and other things transited Belize and we are finding our way around getting to stop it.”
The destruction began at 1 and was expected to be completed by 5. During that time there was a heavy presence of armed Police and BDF at the location in Spanish Lookout. Because in the new drug order, these pills valued at between 50 cents and $3 each – have a street value many times that – and it wasn’t unthinkable that the owners might have tried to come for it. It didn’t happen today, but with such a great demand for this drug in the region – and Belize being the weakest link in terms of security – Customs and Police will have to remain very vigilant.
71 boxes of pills were destroyed. Each box contains 160 bottles and each bottle has 1000 pills – a total of eleven million, one-hundred and thirty-six thousand pills. The face value is about $19 million, but because its importation has been illegalized in Mexico Guatemala and now Belize, the street value is believed to be many times that. Again no one has been arrested but as Jeffries noted – the investigation is intense and they are closing in on suspects.
As we reported earlier this week, last Friday night surveillance cameras at the port caught about 5 men attempting to break into the port compound. Jeffries says there are other shipments of pseudo-ephedrine presently in the country and those too will be destroyed. For some background – the pills themselves aren’t bad – in fact they are used in cough medicine – the active ingredient in Sudafed. But in the new drug culture, that same chemical is used to cook up crystal meth – a popular and highly addictive drug in North America.
