And residents of southern Belize would say the sooner the better. That's because despite the recent successes of the Coast Guard coastal pirates continue to threaten our mariners.
But who are these men? And why wreak havoc against some of Belize's most valuable economic sectors, both tourism, and fisheries.
Acting Commandant Soberanis tells us that these violent, exploitative individuals who are the furthest thing from agents of good form are Belizeans, Belizeans with sinister connections to Honduras.
Gregory Soberanis, Acting Commandant
"The criminal element who operate in our sea space down south are Belizeans, they're Belizean nationals, they're residents or citizens of Belize. We know that they use the guise of fishermen in an attempt to control sea routes that give them direct access to Honduras they use monies that are gained from the stealing of the products from the fishermen to purchase weapons, ammunition and drugs and bring it back into the country of Belize. So we've been working very diligently with our police counterparts in ensuring that these individuals as I mentioned earlier, are located and arrested, on the domestic front the partnership has been working, we work very closely with the key government agencies and we also work closely with our non-governmental agencies, that's on the domestic front, external to Belize we've been working very closely with our counterparts in Honduras, as we know that these guys have connections in Honduras and our Honduran counterparts are providing us with information as it is their intent as well to dismantle the criminal network that works along with the elements here in Belize."
