Earlier this week, we shared a sensational recording where a car importer was heard arguing with a broker about a four thousand dollar kickback that was included in the price he paid to clear a vehicle from the northern border. In that case, the amount collected by the government was only three thousand dollars.
Since that report, we've heard of countless such cases - and the fact is every year, tens of millions of dollars' worth of goods enter Belize through our borders. Behind the counters and cargo manifests, there are decades-old allegations and whispers of unchecked corruption inside the Customs Department, where duty isn't just what you pay at the border, but what you pay under the table.
The problem has allowed for many millions to seep from the public purse. But how much exactly?
Through a grant with the Global Financial Integrity, Freelance Reporter Marion Ali went looking to uncover how much is lost to this system of kickbacks. She was surprised by what she found out.
"I asked them why the receipt was made out for $2,800 when I paid $6,800. [The Customs officer] said that $4,000 was for the boss man [because] he gave me a discount. I was angry, but what could I do? That's the level of corruption happening at the Corozal border."
Marion Ali, Reporting
These are the words of a frustrated Belizean who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation. The practice they describe is simple: In this case, a fraudulent receipt shows a third of her total payment. That 2,800 dollars goes to the Custom Department. The rest of the money - four thousand dollars - goes into someone's pocket.
Marion Ali
"I've spent the last several weeks investigating claims of corruption within Belize's Customs Department. That corruption involved Customs Officers who engage, allegedly, in extortion or bribery with civilians who import goods through the various ports of entry of Belize. And the incidents I'm referring to date back a few years. One of the complainants told me via facebook that they were extorted for several thousand dollars for bringing in a vehicle through this port of entry, which is the Santa Elena border in Corozal Town."
The extortion victim explained to us how the incident unfolded. In our Facebook chat, they wrote:
"I had this guy bring in a Nissan Rogue for me some years ago, like [in] 2020, I had bought it on [a] bidding market. I paid $3,200 U.S for the Rogue [and] Customs was charging me $9,800 Belize for duty. I couldn't pay the $9,800, so I begged them to give me a better price, [because] I didn't have $9,800. They asked me if I could come up with $6,800. I said I could try. I borrowed the money and paid them $6,800 Belize. Now when they gave me the receipt, the receipt was [made out] for $2,800."
No one I spoke to was willing to go on camera to talk about bribery and fraud at customs for fear of being targeted. But a frequent importer told me he was once approached at the Santa Elena check point by a Customs Officer who offered to let his goods pass without paying the actual duties - and in return, he would charge him $200 for the break. It's an offer that our informant said angered him when he thought of the amount the country loses by customs officers gaining personally.
Alexa Tillett is a Belizean who focused her graduate research at UWI on corruption within the Belize Government system. She points out how these kinds of corruption hurt Belizeans.
Alexa Tillett, Master's Graduate, UWI, Barbados
"Unpaid duties reduce the revenue collected by the government that could go into programs like education and health. Additionally, it is unfair competition for those who do follow the rules as they may face higher costs and delays, which may lead to distrust in the system and the government."
According to the Statistical Institute of Belize, in the calendar year 2024, Belize's merchandise imports totaled $2.909 billion. This is an 8.5% increase from 2023. Interestingly, the largest growth was in the "Machinery and Transport Equipment" category - the same category that our extortion victim alleges they lost $4,000 to. And the Statistical Institute of Belize's records show that for the first three quarters of 2025, Belize's total merchandise imports amounted to $2.431 billion.
But of all these imports, how much is lost in duties that were never recovered because of corruption at the Customs entry points?
And what could all that money be invested in if they were collected in duties? There is no known record of the losses, so we will never know.
In the course of our reporting, no government entity could answer the question, nor the Auditor General, Maria Hernandez, nor the Ombudsman, nor the Police, nor the Director of Public Prosecutions, not even the Prime Minister and his Ministry of Finance team. In a phone conversation, Auditor-General, Maria Hernandez said as far as she knows, there has not been a single complaint by any member of the public of corruption within Customs - at least not in the past 12 years. She did encourage people to come forward and said filing a complaint is confidential and can be done online.
Quote from: Maria Hernandez Auditor-General
"Documentation would really help it. If you go on the website, you can find the whistleblowers - I don't even know how you call it - it's a portal or a window. You can click there and type all that you feel needs to be looked at. Then what happens, we include it in our Annual Audit Plan, more than likely 26-27 because this year is already - November."
Marion Ali
"Can you say whether your office has received, or to your knowledge, over the - let's say dating back five years - any complaint against any Customs officer involved in bribery or extortion or anything of the sort?"
H. Gilbert Swazo, Ombudsman
"I can hereby certify and declare that, to the best of my knowledge, we have not received, within the Office of the Ombudsman - or no complaint has been lodged against the Customs Department in particular or any specific individual from within the Customs Department."
Several government entities are charged with investigating complaints of corruption against public officers and none has reported having received reports of corruption within the Customs Department in recent memory, yet the murmurs and allegations span over many years. Like Auditor-General Hernandez, Ombudsman Swazo said that his office can investigate, but only if citizens bring their personal experiences forward. He said that complainants' names and other particulars are required, but this information is kept in confidence.
H. Gilbert Swazo, Ombudsman
"Once a written complaint is lodged, or even a verbal complaint is lodged, certainly there'll be a need to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the complaint - who is making the complaint, so certainly we would need to get an identification of that individual, certainly providing a social security card or a passport. We'd need an address for the individual - all particulars relating to the complainant. And we will need specific details in regards to the authority, namely, which department or which ministry and which individual and which department or ministry that individual is working with, so that then we can ascertain that in fact, so we can ascertain that in fact, that person is employed by a stated authority that the Ombudsman can in fact investigate."
Alexa Tillet, the Belizean expert on customs corruption, says the roots of the problem are entrenched in the system:
Alexa Tillett, Master's Graduate, UWI, Barbados
"When customs officers have freedom to exercise flexibility in the application of rules and regulations, for example, classifying or valuating goods, there's opportunity for corruption, like negotiating fees and side payment for the clearance of goods there is a culture of corruption in Belize, where corruption is viewed as normative and an accepted behaviour to the extent that soliciting gifts or bribes is seen as okay because everybody di do it."
Tillett says the lack of frequent auditing exercises adds to the problem. Lack of enforcement of laws is yet another weakness that supports corruption. Police sources tell me the Customs Department investigates itself when it comes to criminal allegations, so penalties and accountability lie outside the Belizean justice system.
Despite my relentless efforts for over a month via phone calls to the Customs Department, personal messages to the Comptroller's number and two emails to the Customs Department seeking a sit-down interview to discuss their processes to prevent and prosecute cases of corruption, those efforts were ignored. A log of countless phone calls placed to the office to speak with the Comptroller's secretary were all ignored when my calls were transferred. Aside from this, no one from the Ministry of Finance would agree to be interviewed for this report.
Alexa Tillett recommends a few tactics that could cut down on customs corruption. Customs officers could be required to wear body cams. Surveillance cameras capable of picking up audio could also be installed at strategic locations inside and outside all Customs compounds and offices would deter the urge to engage in corruption.
Marion Ali, Reporting
