by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Mon. July 11, 2022
On Friday night, July 8, just after 11:30, Dwayne White, 44, a Belizean labourer, was gunned down by an unknown assailant who entered his brother’s yard on Antelope Street and fired several shots at him while he was socializing with friends and family members.
According to the Communications Director of the Belize Police Department, ASP Fitzroy Yearwood, White’s killer exited the yard after the shooting and passed through an alley located next to a popular Chinese shop on the same street.
White was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
During Monday’s police press briefing, ASP Yearwood noted that police are yet to confirm what was the motive for the shooting; however, there are indications, based on what White’s neighbours have told police, that White’s death might have been the result of a war over drug turf that has been brewing in the area.
“We haven’t established a true motive, but we are examining several. From what we are picking up in the neighborhood, it would want to sound like a turf war. But like I said, we can’t go by just hearsay; we’re trying to establish motive. We have to be real: we’re in Belize City. That area is known for the sales of several illegal narcotics. So it would want to appear that this is as a result of the sale of illegal narcotics. We have our operational teams out there trying to do their best in bringing an arrest in this murder, and at the same time trying to apprehend these illegal vendors,” said ASP Yearwood.
Recently, the Belize Police Department has made several drug busts of considerable size, and ASP Yearwood said that such operations will continue.
“For the past week or so, you have seen where we have made several busts and some found properties, large quantities, countrywide and we will not stop this operation. We’re trying our best to clean the streets of these illegal narcotics and our operations team will be pushing out there,” said ASP Yearwood.
White’s family, however, refutes those claims that he was involved in any drug or gang rivalry and says that he had stopped going to his brother’s yard. The victim, a father of 9, is well-known in the community. Several suspects are detained at this time ASP Yearwood said.