A Mexican man was found dead in the Corozal Free Zone yesterday - and tonight, police say it is a murder - but the Commissioner isn't sure if it happened in Belize or Mexico.
Around 5:00 yesterday, the body of 33 year old Carlos Alberto Yepes Rosas from Chetumal was found in a lagoon behind the Free Zone in an advanced state of decomposition. The body was submerged in muddy water beneath three pallets.
Today, the Zone's public relations officer for the zone said the area where the body was found is far from the zone's main locus of activity - and the deceased was a known trader in the zone:
Julian Brown, PR, Corozal Free Zone
"Where the body was found is an area that is very far from the commercial area of the free zone. It goes behind what we know as the cargo area and it is located at lagoon site. It's a very shallow lagoon, somewhat as a savannah and no surveillance cameras are known to be in that area since it is very far from our commercial area."
"We do not know how he got there. I understand that he also was with a motorcycle and we have not yet found his motorcycle."
"From what we know, the person was dedicated to buying and reselling goods in the Mexican side and also frequently visited the free zone. We know that he left on Saturday 1st April and he was last seen at around 12pm in the Mexican side with his family members. From that we know that he was in the Zone and he was socializing along with some other persons, but we cannot find concrete evidence to point out any persons or any suspects at this time and we believe that it remains under the purview of the police department."
And while the Free Zone says it will step up security measures, the Commissioner of Police isn't even sure he was killed within Belize. Here's what he told us two hours ago:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"That individual was reported missing and what our investigation is showing so far is that he may have been killed over on the Mexican side and thrown into the river and the body float over to the Belize side of the river. Our investigation is being done in conjunction with our Mexican counterpart because like I said, we believe that the crime was committed in Mexico and we also believe that the suspect or suspects involved are from Mexico. And so, we will see how that goes between the two law enforcement agencies working together for us to be able to arrive at a definitive conclusion as to what may have transpired and by whom."
We'll keep following the story.
