“The thing is we have to make sure that no more British made grenades get into the wrong hands.” That was the sentiment expressed by Lt. Colonel Peter Germain, the Commander of the British Training Support Unit in Belize. He made the remarks when he spoke to 7News following the March third grenade explosion on the third floor of the residence of the Comptroller of Customs Gregory Gibson. Since then police have been unable to locate the suspicious looking white car seen leaving the Belama Phase One area shortly after the grenade was tossed.
Since November of 2008, British made grenades have been used in three separate explosions in Belize City. The grenades are believed to have come from batches used by various training units over the past few years up to mid 2008. The concern now is just how many more grenades are out there? And how many of them are British made?
Following the recent attack on the Gibson’s residence, the BATSUB Commander told 7News that he would try to obtain the services of a special research training team to come to Belize and work along with local authorities to try and find out the source, who all may be involved and possibly detect any more grenades that may be on the streets. Today Lt. Col Germain confirmed to 7News that since last week members of the Special Investigation Branch from the Royal Military Police have been in Belize working along with local law enforcement.
According to the BATSUB Commander the specialized team has done similar and successful operations in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan in searching for military hardware. Just how successful they will be in Belize is anybody’s guess.
