Photo: Image of coca plantation discovered in August this year in Southern Belize
BELIZE CITY, Mon. Sept. 25, 2023
The first time Belize law enforcement reported discovering coca plantations in southern Belize was in December 2022. That month, the Belize Defence Force (BDF) discovered three coca plantations with a combined total of 120,000 plants (not yet matured) along the Sarstoon River near Graham Creek, a remote village in the Toledo District. Fast-forward to this year August, a massive coca plantation was again discovered in a remote area of the Toledo District. That one is reported to have had about half a million coca plants, and though Minister of National Defence, Florencio Marin, Jr. described the soil in the area as not optimal, he said it was a sign that the cartels are spreading their tentacles in southern Belize in hard-to-reach areas. Prior to the August 2023 discovery, there were reports that a coca lab had been discovered and destroyed down south.
Therefore, when Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eamon Courtenay addressed Belize’s diplomatic corps on September 19, he was not sharing anything that had not been reported on in the news. However, he told the excellencies that his suspicion is that the illegal activity of organized crime is shifting from Guatemala to Belize because of their success at eradication on that side. He stated, “For some reason, some friendly countries have resourced the Guatemalans far more than they have resourced us to fight this problem, and so the cartel has moved to an area where there is less ability to stop them … We would like a lot more cooperation with Guatemala, primarily intelligence cooperation on drugs, human smuggling, small arms smuggling, in border areas.”
Courtenay also affirmed that authorities are facing a lack of cooperation on the ground in the communities nearest to where coca plantations have been found. He commented, “The ineluctable inference to be drawn is that this is not being done by the poor; this is not being done by peasants who are just looking for another commercial crop. It indicates the presence of organized crime, and everyone knows that in the Americas and in Europe this is undertaken by the cartels. Therefore, the national security risk profile of Belize has changed significantly with evidence of the presence of cartels operating in this country.”
Courtenay then proceeded to sound a dire warning for more assistance and cooperation. He noted that Prime Minister John Briceño “has made a point to all our diplomatic allies, that this is job one. The presence of cartels is cancerous … What our security forces are finding is non-cooperation and frustration when they go on exercises to these areas, which signals to us that the residents in those areas have been bought over. It is the beginning of the penetration by cartels into Belize.” Courtenay declared that if this issue is not addressed now, we can only look to the countries in the region of the Americas as to what can happen.