Joseph Budna has built up quite a reputation for himself in Belize - always into some drama or caught up in some near death encounter. Well tonight he seems to have parlayed his talent for finding trouble over to Guatemala - where he's in the hospital after being shot by Guatemalan police - who have named him as the leader of a kidnapping ring.
Here's what we've found out about the story behind this picture where Budna is in a hospital being interviewed by a scrum of media houses.
According to a Guatemalan radio station called Emisores Unidas, the National Civil Police captured 37 year old Budna in the barrio La Ermita, San Benito, Peten. He is accused of being the ringleader of a gang of kidnappers operating in Belize Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala.
According to the police report, Budna was arrested after he was shot by police. Preliminary police investigations found that that quote, "the criminal group allegedly led by Budna was responsible for the kidnapping of three people, victims who had been brought to Honduras." End quote.
The news was first posted on the radio station's Twitter feed at 4:00 pm today - so we presume it happened earlier this morning. We checked with the Belize Embassy in Guatemala - which said it hadn't heard anything officially or unofficially. Typically when a Belizean citizen is involved in a crime, the embassy is notified within 48 hours.
We'll keep monitoring Guatemalan news outlets for more information.
