4 government pickups are back where they belong on the Ministry of Agriculture compound at Central Farm after they were stolen, when the car thieves were thwarted trying to slip them across the border into Guatemala. It was a brazen and organized robbery that might have been successful were it not for the GPS tracking devices that have been installed on most vehicles in the government fleet.
But even after tracking the vehicles, the police had to dodge bullets fired by the determined criminals. Today, via Zoom, Police Staff Officer, ASP Stacy Smith told us what happened. Courtney Menzies has this story.:
This sagging fence at the back of the Ministry of Agriculture's compound is likely where six well organized car thieves got into the Ministry of Agriculture's compound after 3 o'clock this morning. This afternoon, the vehicles were back inside safely parked but that's after quite an ordeal.
ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer
"These trucks were stolen from the compound of the Agriculture Department in Central Farm Cayo District. The operation was promoted by a report made to police by the security guard of that compound who reported that around 1:00am today, 5 individuals, one of whom was armed with a firearm entered that compound and demanded that he handed over the keys to the vehicles that were located on the compound. Being in fear of his life, he complied and handed over the keys and he was later restrained. Some hour later, he was able to free himself and he was able to go to someone who facilitated him with a phone call and he reported the matter to police. Having been notified of the incident, the operational plan was put into place which included the cordoning of those areas of interest given that past incidents of this nature showed that the theft of a vehicle are done with a view to take them across the border into Guatemala. The operation was successful and officers from Benque Viejo police formation were able to recover two of the stolen trucks, one of which was on the hydro road area and the other was found on George Street in Benque Viejo Town."
The other two vehicles were later found by the Special Patrol Unit, but that was not until after a shootout:
ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer
"The other two vehicles were recovered by personnel from the special patrol unit and during the course of them making that recovery, they were fired upon by one of the culprits who eventually retreated, abandoning the vehicles."
"I do note that incidents in the past have been shown to have been conducted by persons who frequent both Belize and Guatemala and it is for this reason that we have an operational plan in place which includes conduct by both entities or organizations both in Belize and our Guatemalan counterparts."
Police and the ministry were able to follow the vehicles in realtime by using GPS technology that is installed in most government vehicles. This also enabled them to kill the engine on one of the vehicles while the movement of others was inhibited by geo fencing technology which does not enable them to enter neighboring countries.
ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer
"There is a system in place that is called geo fencing and I've not been able to conclusively get that information as to whether that resulted in the officers being able but certainly the geo tracking was a feature that was of some assistance in this investigation."
And while all four vehicles have been recovered, police have still not been able to ascertain the identities - or even nationalities - of the thieves. However, they're hoping the surveillance footage they recovered can help.
Our reports suggest that the car thieves spoke creole.
