COROZAL NORTHERN BORDER, Corozal District, Thurs. Dec. 14, 2017–The driver of a Lincoln Navigator SUV that crashed into the gate of the Customs cargo area at the Northern Border, at about 2:30 yesterday afternoon, absconded before authorities could catch up with him. Police who searched the vehicle found 6,328 grams of cocaine (almost 14 pounds), hidden in a compartment in the dashboard. Police took charge of the drugs, impounded the vehicle, and are conducting a search for the driver.

During a police press brief held this morning at the Racoon Street Police Station, ACP Joseph Myvette, Head of National Crimes Investigation, told us that the Navigator was traveling to Mexico, from Belize. Mexican police scanned the vehicle at the Mexico-Belize border and, detecting something suspicious, they told the driver that they would carry out a secondary inspection on the vehicle. The driver of the SUV didn’t wait around for that. He stepped on the gas and sped back towards Belize, with the Mexican police hot in pursuit.
The driver, who was alone in the vehicle, got across the border, but he lost control when he got a back wheel blow out, and crashed. Police and Customs authorities went to see what was happening and that was when the Mexican police showed the Corozal police the image they scanned. Police searched the vehicle, in the presence of a Justice of the Peace and found the illicit cargo. ACP Myvette said that the vehicle is registered and owned by a man who lives in Belize City.

The Mexican authorities also handed over a “scan” of the license which the driver presented to them. The driver’s license is that of a resident of Ranchito, Corozal.