On Tuesday the Commander of the British Armed Forces in Belize admitted that the carnival grenade came from BATSUB’s stock. A major revelation, but tonight police say they aren’t any closer to solving the mystery of how the l109a1 grenade got on the street and who put it there. Today Commander of Police Operations, Assistant Commissioner Crispin Jeffries says the investigation is ongoing.
Keith Swift,
BATSUB has said the grenade came from their batch. Has that narrowed the investigation into who might have thrown this grenade?
Crispin Jeffries,
“Not necessarily. The information we are getting from BATSUB is the
same as yours and our investigative team is yet to meet people from BATSUB to confirm. The military will be with us when we make this effort to sit down with those people.”
Keith Swift,
What was your reaction when it was confirmed the grenade came from BATSUB?
Crispin Jeffries,
“The reality is that there are only a few organizations and the military, the BDF, the Coast Guard, the British Forces Belize are the ones who normally legally import grenades into the country. Any other person would bring that into the country illegally so it was no surprise that it could have come from those. We have information to indicate that a lot of other grenades are in the country that come as a part of drug transhipment or cross border incidents and we are looking at those as well.”
Lt. Col Peter Germain told us that an extensive investigation will be carried out by the British Army’s Special Investigation Branch. Lt. Col. Germain told us on Tuesday that the grenade came from a batch of one hundred and sixty that was issued to his training unit in August last year. But there is some good news coming out of the grenade debacle. At its meeting on Tuesday, Cabinet nominated Major James Requena to receive a meritorious service award at the Tribute to Belizean Patriots next week. An official release says he is being recognized for bravery in the way he handled the live grenade that was lobbed in front of the KHMH on carnival day. As we’ve shown you, Requena used a paper clip to substitute for the safety pin which had already been pulled.
