Belizean Men Among Five Murdered in Southern Quintana Roo, Mexico; Linked to Organized Crime

Over the weekend, two Belizean men were among five dead bodies found in southern Quintana Roo, Mexico, in a village named, Sacxan. On Saturday morning, the bodies of 18-year-old Arron Tun and 27-year-old Michael Whittaker, residents of the Corozal District, and three other men were discovered by Mexican authorities. The victims were bound, two of them had their faces taped, while another was wrapped in black plastic. The five blindfolded bodies were discarded at a bus stop, along with a handwritten note of threats, and their heads wrapped in transparent tape. The note found with the bodies threatened people of a criminal group who have been charging a fee to vendors for protection, with a specific name used as an example. Whittaker and Tun were well-known criminal elements in the Corozal District, who were wanted by police for some time. This morning, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams stated that the men had fled from Belize and were apparently killed by cartel elements operating in Chetumal. 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police: “The Mexican police in Chetumal came across five bodies and among those bodies were two Belizeans from the Corozal district. Again, we continue to collaborate with our Mexican counterparts to see what information can be obtained but certainly we do believe that, again, based on information that the incident involving those individuals is drug related and may have been carried out by the cartels in the Chetumal area. Yes, again, just to solidify the fact that our Northern operations is really holding because of the constant pressure coming through the Northern operations, individuals who are Belizeans had fled Belize and went to live in Chetumal with a view to avoid the operations. And again, it goes back to what I said before, you sleep with a dog, you catch their flea. They went to Chetumal, they are engaged with the cartels. I see Belizeans asking, where is Chester Williams? I’m not in charge of Mexican police. I am in charge of Belize police. So don’t put me in that. I am far away. If it is that something happens in Belize, we do what needs to be done to make sure that we investigate and in some cases, like what our Northern operations is doing is serve as a bulwark to prevent the cartels from coming into our country and operate and I believe that we’re doing very good at that.”

The men were found under circumstances similar to the murder victim 28-year-old Raheem Usher. Usher’s body was found on Thursday in the Orange Walk District accompanied by a handwritten note threatening several other people apparently involved in drug-plane landings.  He was blindfolded and his head was found wrapped in transparent tape, the body wrapped in black plastic, and two gunshot wounds to the head. However, while both Whittaker and Tun were suspects in his murder, Commissioner Williams says the two incidents may not be connected. He explained that, unlike Usher, the men were murdered for their alleged affiliation and roles with the cartel operating outside Belize. 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police: “As I said before we are certain to some extent that Raheem Usher was killed by locals. And again, I can say to you that we have good information in terms of who those locals are.”

Reporter: But sir, the bodies were found in a similar matter, wrapped up, and at sign as well. 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police: “If you’re trying to mimic something, what would you do? I can say from what we have gathered so far is that these people seemingly are operating for the cartels in Mexico. And they are collecting fees. And fees being collected is being stolen by them. So they’re not reporting to their bosses on their collections and because of that, that is the reason why they were killed. That’s my understanding of it. There’s another person of interest that we’re looking for one Joshua Hall. He, from what we understand was along with that group but he was able to escape. And from what we are getting is that he is back in Belize and we are looking for him. We do have a bench one for his arrest. So once he is found, then he will be taken into custody.”

Williams reiterated that the suspects in Usher’s murder, two of whom are now dead, were affiliated with cartel elements, but not members of the criminal groups. Notably, while the police have received information from their counterparts in Mexico, Belize’s Ambassador to Mexico Oscar Arnold faced difficulties getting official information about the incident.