VERACRUZ, Mexico, Thurs. Feb. 21, 2019– Five Belizeans were attacked and robbed of their belongings on Sunday, February 17, in Acayucan, a city in Veracruz, which is located in Mexico. The robbers stole their travel documents, cash, and other items, and as a result the Belizeans found themselves unable to travel back to Belize.
The men, who were auto dealers, were towing several vehicles from the US to Belize. While they were in the hills, they were attacked by about 8 or 10 men. The robbers put logs across the road to cut off their path, and then attacked the Belizeans with machetes and guns. One of the men was chopped and needed to be hospitalized.
In an interview with News5 on Monday, February 18, one of the men, John Bermudez, said that the robbers were very aggressive, ordering them around and demanding money from them. After the incident, which only lasted a few minutes, the robbers escaped and the Belizeans drove to a toll road in the city to get some help.
As of the time of the interview, Bermudez said that no government agencies had gotten in contact with them, but they were told that they should have been receiving a call from the ambassador in Mexico.
Bermudez said this was the first time he had done a road trip like this, towing cars down to Belize. He said the men he was with had done it before, and they have been robbed before by cartels. These robbers, however, did not, seem, in Bermudez’s opinion, to be members of cartels, because he said the cartel men were more “cordial,” but these robbers seemed to be on drugs, and kept saying they were going to kill the men.
The men were not robbed of the cars, and at the time of the interview, were still trying to tow them to a different location.