Suspects Detained in Murder of Belize District Businessman Cruz Magana

Police have detained the two men they believe barged into the home of 32-year-old Cruz Magana and shot him dead in front of his family. Last week, Magana’s family business in Fresh Pond Village, Belize District, was targeted by two gunmen who robbed them and murdered Magana. The men held the family hostage inside their home and threatened to return after attempting to kill Magana’s sister. Since then, police have detained two suspects, but, according to Commissioner Police Chester Williams, there is not enough evidence to charge them. 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police: “I know the police did detain two individuals and we are almost sure that they are the culprits but again it is going to be difficult because they wore masks at the particular instance when the crime did occur. Nonetheless we’re still trying to see what we can to do get something tangible to be able to levy charges against those individuals but the police is looking at it very very closely.”

Reporter: The family members they fear for their lives so has the police increased patrol in the area? I know it came right after they got a new mobile.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police: “Yeah the police patrol in that area has intensified. The Boom area recently got an increase of over 100% in officers so they do have the amount of officers to be able to address the issue. They also have mobility so there should be no issue in terms of them doing what needs to be done. In addition to that we still do have patrol in the area from SPU and GI3 so we’re doing what we can to enhance security all over the country. It’s a very difficult task at times because of the amount of incidents across the country and the fact that people feel fearful, the insecurity of people. So to give them that sense of security we do our best to deploy our officers from the specialized units in different parts of the country to assist the local police in dealing with the crime issue.”

Magana was a father of two