Photo: (Top row) George Ferguson and Delwin Casimiro (Bottom row) Elmer Nah and Nelson Middleton

Sergeant George Ferguson, Corporal Delwin Casimiro, Corporal Elmer Nah, and PC Nelson Middleton – 4 of 11 police officers involved in the Bladen drug plane landing – were dismissed from the Belize Police Department.

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Mon. Dec. 11, 2023

Four of eleven police officers who were charged with landing a drug plane on the Southern Highway near Bladen Village, Toledo District, back in November 2021, have been officially dismissed from being members of the Belize Police Department.

The officers, which the department announced were dismissed on the grounds, “ceased to become an efficient police officer”, were identified as Sergeant George Ferguson, Corporal Delwin Casimiro, Corporal Elmer Nah, and PC Nelson Middleton.

“These officers are a part of the Bladen 11. Separate from the accusation against them in respect to the Bladen plane landing, there are also [several] reports against them; and while, yes, some of those matters are still before the court, they have been tried in a tribunal and in some instances were acquitted,” said Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams.

The officers were reportedly involved in one of the biggest drug plane landings recorded in the country.

As reports at the time suggested, in November 2021, a twin-engine aircraft landed on the highway containing approximately twenty-five bales of cocaine, each holding 30 bricks (750 total), which had a total weight of 763 kilos, along with 5 assault rifles, one belonging to the Belize Police Department.

Also, at the scene, three vehicles were found, two of which were assigned to Assistant Commissioner of Police Marco Vidal’s Operation Unit, which had no role to play in the drug plane landing, expressed ComPol Williams at the time.

One of the vehicles found, which belonged to Sergeant Ferguson, had several high-caliber weapons inside, and he was found hiding in some nearby bushes following the bust. He and the three other dismissed officers were all members of Vidal’s strike team and were initially charged with drug trafficking and landing a plane at an unlicensed aerodrome.

ComPol Williams told members of the media that the dismissed officers wrote, through their attorneys, the reasons for them not to be dismissed, and they were allowed to be heard, but they were ultimately dismissed.

“In respect of these officers, how the public sees them, it is not a good view for us. So, what I did was, I wrote the officers and outlined to them the different allegations against them and asked them in light of these allegations, to kindly show reasons why they should not be dismissed. They all wrote back through their attorneys and gave reasons why they should not be dismissed. I looked at the reasons that they gave, as well as the totality of the allegations made against them, and used my discretion, having due consideration to what they responded to, and the allegations, and based on that, I terminated them on the grounds that they have ceased to become an efficient officer, which is provided for in the Police Act,” he said.

ComPol Williams has been known to have a few enemies within the department, and since obtaining the position of ComPol some have alleged that at times he has acted on emotions and with a vendetta against his fellow officers. ComPol Williams said that, if the matter were to go to court, he would explain his decisions.

“I don’t have an issue to answer to my decision. I think that if you were to ask the Belizean people how they would feel to see any of those officers in a police uniform, you would see what the response from the public is going to be…Taking into consideration the totality and the veracity of the allegations against them, we’re of the view that they could not serve this department no more. If they were to continue, it is going to further erode the public trust and confidence in the work that we do. The matter is going to be ventilated in a court of law. And if the court should rule in their favor, we are prepared to pay the price,” he expressed.

Another police officer was dismissed in addition to the four from the Bladen 11. He is Manuel Caliz, the brother-in-law of Elmer Nah, and he was dismissed on the same grounds as the others.