And while nothing was stolen from the delivery truck, four fishing crews were robbed in less than a month. It seems that pirates are preying on fisherfolk in the open waters of the Caribbean. The Coast Guard has called the incidents "coastal piracy." It's something that happens year-round, but according to Commander Gregory Soberanis, there has been an increase as lobster season comes to a close.
The first robbery occurred on January 14th near Caye Glory, the second and third on February 6th near Southwater Caye, and the fourth this morning, once again near Southwater Caye.
The Coast Guard are now patrolling the sea, determined to protect fisherfolk and capture the perpetrators. Commander Soberanis told us that nine persons have been detained so far.
Commander Gregory Soberanis, Commandant, Belize Coast Guard
"Over the past few weeks we've had three incidents that have occurred. The first one occurred about three to four weeks ago. The incident was reported to us and we responded with an aggressive deployment of our patrols to the area and it was a coordinated approach, interagency approach, we've been working closely with the fisheries department, with the police down in Dangriga on the regional commander for that area, Mr Arzu, as well as the officer commanding for Dangriga itself, Mr Jones. We've collaborated our efforts. As it related to the first incident, we were able to locate 9 individuals who we believe to have been involved with that particular incident. They were all detained and handed over to police in Dangriga. We were able to seize four assets where they were charged for various violations, port violations, so that was the first incident. The second incident occurred on as recent as Saturday, again along with fisheries we were able to respond to that scene and we escorted the fishermen back to Belize City where we were able to conduct interviews with them and get an idea of what transpired out at sea. The most recent incident occurred this morning, the perpetrators were bold enough to do it approximately just around 6:15 this morning."
"The fishermen have stated to us that, one, their products have been stolen, two, their engines, and three, their electronic devices, their phones. So those are some of the things that have been stolen from the fishermen. What we believe is happening is that this weekend is the close of the season and so the criminal element who operate in these areas are aware of that and they see the fishermen as soft targets and so they know that the fishermen will have their products that they will transport back to Belize City and so hence the reason why these fishermen are being targeted."
"We believe that these perpetrators are Belizean, and they are part of the criminal network that operates in that area and we want them to know if they're listening to this interview that the law enforcement authority will make every effort to locate them and to ensure that justice is served."
The detainees will so far be charged for having inadequate equipment on their vessels, as well as not having the proper documentation. The CEO in the Ministry of the Blue Economy Kennedy Carillo told us, quote, "As the Ministry responsible for Fisheries we are gravely concerned about the situation of piracy against the fisher folk out at sea."
