Belize Customs officials have made a major bust of 277 cases of beer and 2 cases of Johnny Walker Black Label whiskey after two suspicious vans were seized outside of Orange Walk Town yesterday at 3:50 a.m. The Customs Department believes the items are from the Corozal Free Zone.
Customs officials told Amandala that they received information from a police patrol that the vans were travelling on the Northern Highway coming from Corozal. The Orange Walk Customs Enforcement Unit was informed and, with the assistance of Orange Walk police, a road block was set up at the second round-about south of Orange Walk Town.
Amandala understands that the vans (a Ford 350 and a Club Wagon) were intercepted there and that some of the authorities involved in the operation had to shoot out some of the tires of the vans to immobilize them. The occupants escaped and disappeared into the nearby bushes; it is not certain how many culprits there were in the vans.
A Jeep Cherokee vehicle was also stopped by the authorities and the two occupants were detained; the authorities believe that the Cherokee was an advance scout to make sure the vans would reach their destination without meeting Customs officials or police.
The bust consists of different brands of beer, including Coors Lite, Miller Genuine Draft and Heineken, and by Customs calculations, is worth around $36,000 Belize market value. Because Customs usually charges three times the value of the contraband, this could take the fines up to approximately $109,000.
The contraband’s final destination has not been officially revealed, but the authorities believe that the liquor was destined for Belize City, and then San Pedro Ambergris Caye. We were told by the officials that the items were bought by a Mexican who “fronted” for the Belizean contrabandistas.
The vans, which have been confirmed to be rentals, have been confiscated by the authorities until the drivers are located. If they cannot locate the drivers of the vans, Customs can, by authority of the law, seek penalties against the owners of the vans.
As a result, they were given a name of the person who rented the vans; they are currently pursuing that line of investigation.
According to information given to Customs by the car rental company, the vans were rented on the basis that the customer had a trip to Chetumal with some tourists.