Photo: Two of several vehicles stolen

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Wed. May 24, 2023

A Belizean car dealer, 47-year-old Zeke Lino, was traveling as part of a convoy of four Belizeans (including three Belizean-American nationals) and a single Guatemalan national on Saturday afternoon, May 20, when the group was held up at gunpoint and robbed by Mexican bandidos in the Tuxpam area of Veracruz, Mexico while transporting goods to Belize.

According to Lino, while crossing over a speed bump near an intersection in Tuxpam, he saw in his rearview mirror a vehicle coming; and while his nephew, who was driving a Ford F-150 pickup, was attempting to cross that bump, the vehicle cut him off and blocked him in, along with traffic on the opposite side.

Lino then tried to contact Mexican authorities about the situation but to no avail; however, when he contacted them again, he mentioned that an American national was being kidnapped. Thus, in a matter of minutes, a chopper was seen hovering in the air along with a large number of Mexican patrols on the ground.

During the robbery, approximately 6 persons exited the vehicle fully masked and were armed with assault rifles and demanded them to exit the pickup truck. They then took away their cash, travel documents, and also the goods that they were bringing into the country, which included 4 vehicles, 2 trailers, and a golf cart.

Also, in the process of the robbery, the Mexican Bandidos assaulted another victim who refused to hand over his possessions, and fired a bullet at him to intimidate him.

Lino described to Amandala that the situation occurred in less than a minute.

On Tuesday, May 23, Lino took to social media to recount what transpired with him and his team, and he also described the difficulties they experienced in dealing with the Belize and US Embassies in Mexico.

“I tried contacting the US Embassy because it was a toll-free number; we called [and] the Belize Embassy to no avail. The voicemail said from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., so up to this present we haven’t reported to the embassies,” he expressed.

Lino was told by Mexican authorities, that a few of his vehicles were recovered; however, the F-150, which is of high value for the Mexican cartels because it is useful when coordinating their underworld activities, and two trucks are yet to be recovered.

“I guess the quick response of the police, the bandits realized that the stuff behind them was slowing them down, so they had to ditch stuff in order to escape,” he said.

“… The Ford is one of their favorite vehicles, but according to what the police told me, that they’re using those vehicles to do their crime, and when it’s hot, they throw them away. The cop told me that 80 percent of the time they’ll recover the vehicle,” he added.

Lino told Amandala that he believes that the culprits were observing them for a few hours before the incident occurred while they were operating the vehicle which was having some issues.

“I know for a fact they were watching us. Where we stopped to fix the vehicle, I guess they passed us so many times, and a lot of police presence was there, but when we got on the highway that’s when they targeted us and preyed on us,” he expressed.

With over 20 years of experience of being in the business, Lino recollected to us several experiences where he and others were robbed by Mexican bandidos, and noted that this recent encounter is the most terrifying one.

Lino then expressed to us that while traveling through Mexico is dangerous, it is much more feasible than having a vehicle shipped where custom duty doubles, thus breaking the bank.

“Shipping vehicles to Belize is much safer; however, you can put nothing on those vehicles; those vehicles have to come empty [and] the fuel has to be out. Then when it gets to Belize, the customs duty on it doubles, because what they do is put the shipping expense and add that to the cost of the vehicle, and then that’s your value. And whatever your percentage of that is, you pay customs duty. It’s cheaper to bring the vehicles by road, because you can put whatever you want in the vehicles and you pay less duty. The government needs to come in and assist us,” he highlighted.

Amandala reached out to Belize Ambassador to Mexico, Oscar Arnold, who answered some of our queries regarding the situation. A question posted to Ambassador Arnold was “What can the embassy do to protect Belizeans who are in this profession and risking their lives while traveling through Mexico?”

“Belizeans need to understand all the risks involved and recognize that the profession is not what it used to be. They need to weigh the risks versus rewards and decide whether using alternate means is a better option. The embassy can ensure that if there are any issues, that Belizeans get due process from Mexican authorities,” he said.

The stolen goods are estimated at over $150,000 Bz.