Police Crackdown Continues as Key Gang Members Evade Capture

Since the measure was declared in portions of the Belize and Cayo Districts dozens of alleged gang members have been rounded up and sent to prison. However, several of the wanted men, including five dubbed the “most wanted’, have eluded authorities. The police initially had identified over ninety alleged gangsters but filtered the list down to a little above sixty. Today, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams provided an update on the police’s crackdown and the exclusion of several high-profile gang members from the SOE list.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police: “Next week we will commence intervention and mediation session at the Kolbe Foundation that will be led by Mr. Nuri Mohamed. The intention is for him to go in twice a week to meet with them in smaller groups and then see how we can eventually expand the groups. That will be done for the three months period of the SOE. Again, the objective is not to just have them locked up in prison, but also to see if we can find a way to help them to resolve whatever issues or conflicts that they may have. So we’re hoping that it is going to bear good fruits. In terms of those persons who are still listed as wanted, the police are still pursuing them. Some of them may have left the country. Some of them may be hiding in other parts of the country, but we’re hoping that the public is going to assist us in rooting them out from where they may be. SOE again, as the Minister eloquently explained, it is targeting those persons who, intelligence revealed, are actively involved in what was taking place on our streets. We’re not going after persons who, not because Jules Vasquez was a gang member a year ago, and Jules Vasquez is working with the LIU to try and change his lifestyle, we must now go after him. That is not the objective of the SOE. And so those persons who are not a part of the wanted list are persons who are not active. Bear in mind, though, that some of the same big players that you’re speaking about are on the wanted list and they have not yet been found. So again, we’re hoping that they’ll be able to find those people and then let them join their colleagues in prison.”

The men are from the Belize and Cayo Districts