Belize Coast Guard Recovers Suspected Narco Vessel off Ambergris Caye

The Belize Coast Guard has recovered a 55-foot suspected narco-trafficking vessel off the coast of northern Ambergris Caye.  The discovery raises further concerns over continuous drug transit activity in the region. The vessel, described as a Colombian-style boat, commonly used in transnational narcotics operations, was discovered abandoned. Commandant of the Belize Coast Guard, Rear Admiral Elton Bennett, declared that the vessel did not originate from Belize and is not registered locally, further fueling suspicions that it was involved in illicit activities.

RADM Elton Bennett, Belize Coast Guard Commandant: “We received information of a vessel that was abandoned in the Northern Ambergris Caye area. We deployed from Station San Pedro. We went out there, we found the vessel. There were no drugs in sight. There was nothing illicit in sight. This vessel, as far as our investigations show so far, has not originated in Belize. It is not registered Belize. We don’t know for certain where it came from. More than likely, quite possibly, it was used in illicit activity. We don’t know exactly what cargo was on board. It could have been contraband. It could have been fuel to support a drug trafficking transaction. It could have been drugs itself. So there’s a lot of unknowns at this stage. What we’ve done so far is to secure the vessel and we continue to investigate. Well, the outcome of what we uncovered will determine what action we take next. It was reported by someone in the era that they saw a vessel drifting. So we got that information and we went up there and we secured the vessel.”

Commandant of the Belize Coast Guard explained that, strangely enough, finding such vessels is not unusual and has become a common occurrence in Belizean waters. The last time they found one with similar makeup was a year ago. The Coast Guard has since secured the vessel and launched an investigation to determine its origin, use, and whether any contraband was onboard.

RADM Elton Bennett, Belize Coast Guard Commandant: “This is a common practice. There are times when we would recover vessels. The last time we would have recovered a vessel of this fitting and characteristics would have been perhaps a year and a half ago. The fact that it is abandoned means that it was used possibly for some illicit activities. So it’s not necessary specifically this type of vessel is only type of vessel that is used for drug trafficking. Drugs are moved in cargo ships, drugs are moved in yachts, in pleasure boats I mean any vessel, in any conveyance that the traffickers would consider useful for their mission. But the fact that this vessel doesn’t fit any description of any vessel that is originally from Belize tells us that it came from a foreign country and we know that drug trafficking out in this region is very common. Outside in the northwest Caribbean transactions can occur out there and vessels can drift within our sea space which is highly likely what occurred here because of the location we found the vessel in northern and Ambergris Caye area, quite possibly a transaction occurred somewhere well outside and vessels drifted inside Belizean waters.”

Investigation is ongoing.