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Alleged whistleblower threatened with death

HeadlineAlleged whistleblower threatened with death

Hon. Anthony “Boots” Martinez’s brother claims, at a press conference, without evidence, that some senior police officers and Cabinet members are involved in drug trafficking; gets threatening texts minutes after.

BELIZE CITY, Tues. Jan. 8, 2019– At an unusual press conference today, a brother of Minister Anthony “Boots” Martinez, Edward Martinez, laid out the ground rules to the city’s media corps, making clear that what he would disclose had nothing to do with politics and nothing to do with his brother.

“He is my brother and I can’t change that,” Martinez, who turned whistleblower, said. Martinez said his disclosure has to do with “corruption.”

Martinez then proceeded to detail what he claims to know about the landing of drug planes in Belize and listed a cast of players from Belize who are involved in the drug transshipment business.

However, within an hour after Martinez had disclosed the names of some ranking police officers and politicians in the governing United Democratic Party (UDP), saying that he has video footage and other documentary evidence, he said that he received two text messages which threatened his life and those of his family.

“You were warned, now you and your family f….ed,” stated one of the text messages to Martinez.

The person who texted Martinez reportedly mentioned the name of a high-ranking police officer he described as “my boss.”

Then, to make Martinez aware that his movements were being monitored and that he was being followed, after he left the press conference, the person who texted him told him ominously, “You think that you are safe, my 9 was on you while you were in the shop buying Coke.”

And just how Martinez got to be so knowledgeable about the workings of the drug world?

Martinez explained that he used to transport contraband cigarettes and whiskey from the border and as a result of that involvement in the underworld, he made a lot of friends and established a lot of sources.

“I once told you, a few minutes ago, that I’m no saint. I used to be in the contraband world, but not the contraband of drugs,” Martinez explained.

“If you would ask me how it is that I can pinpoint the exact location the plane will land, I can answer that for you, instantly. I have a tie in Guatemala that deals with that, that deals with the tracking of planes,” Martinez disclosed.

“When something is coming, and I know about it, I can either check Honduras or Guatemala,” Martinez added.

Martinez named a number of senior police officers and politicians from the ruling UDP who he said are involved in the drug trade.

Recently, police claimed that they discovered an SUV on the Coastal Road after an incident involving a drug plane, but police had absolutely refused to disclose the name in which the vehicle is registered.

Referring to that matter, Martinez told the media that the vehicle is registered to the wife of a senior police officer.

“Any name that I call, I will present evidence to support it, because nowadays in Belize, people don’t like to accept the facts. They want to cry, ‘I will lawyer-up. I will sue you.’ I’m inviting them to do it because the evidence that I have, trust me, not only do I believe that they would be fired, they probably would be prosecuted,” Martinez said emphatically.

“Many will ask, ‘well, how do you know?’ Many will say, ‘Well, he had to be involved. He must not have gotten his share’; you know how social media goes. This has nothing to do with shares, bad feelings or a crossed deal. This is about what is right. I have a son; I have children. I have many children,” Martinez explained.

Martinez also said that he has contingency plans, “just in case something happens to me. I don’t do anything without a contingency plan. The minute I walk out there, and a stray shot hits me, or you hear, ‘He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they had a shoot-out, and unfortunately, the poor man got hit.’”

“They better know something; the minute ‘the poor man get it,’ I have people who will disseminate everything out there, because I won’t die just for accusations. If you will kill me, somebody is going with me. I will damage somebody’s life in the process. At the end of the day, they could send somebody to shoot [me]. Come good, because I will shoot back,” Martinez said.

Martinez said that this press conference is the first one of three press conferences that he will hold to disseminate the information he has on the corruption in the Belize Police Department and in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Dean Barrow.

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