Photo: Lawrence Thompson, Deputy Controller of Enforcement and Compliance, Customs Department

by Kristen Ku

BELIZE CITY, Mon. May 15, 2023

Tuesday marks three weeks since the students of Saint Luke Methodist Primary School in Belize City were rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) due to symptoms of nausea and intoxication which they started exhibiting after eating candy that turned out to be marijuana edibles.

Approximately 27 children, some as young as 5 years old, and 5 adults were rushed to the emergency ward at the KHMH after experiencing a THC intoxication, which triggered a Mass Casualty Code at the hospital.

Following the incident, there were many questions about the origin of the edibles and how they ended up in the hands of children, but not long after, the marijuana-laced goodies were determined to have been evidence that was thrown out prematurely by an exhibit keeper, Mario Bustillos, of the Police Department. The edibles were part of the evidence in an ongoing case, after they were discovered by Customs officers at the Belizean border in a package sent from the US.

After being thrown out in the garbage, the gummies were transported to the city’s dump site, where scavengers found them and later sold them to vendors, who sold them to students just outside of their school for only $1.00 each.

The country later learned that the package of gummies had allegedly been addressed to a member of the Police Department, identified as Akeem Gamboa. However, Gamboa has since come forward to deny these allegations, claiming that he had no idea that such a package had arrived and that he was listed as the intended recipient.

Despite the expulsion of Gamboa from the Police Department and the 10 charges of negligent harm brought against Bustillos, no public statement had been issued at the time by the Customs Department on how the gummies, which date back to January of this year, were discovered, the process taken thereafter, and how the department will move forward after such an incident.

Today, Monday, however, Lawrence Thompson, the Deputy Controller of Enforcement and Compliance at the Customs Department, answered some of these questions posed by the media.

According to Thompson, the gummies entered the country through the Port of Belize, where they were discovered after routine examinations by the Customs officers. Normally, depending on the find, relevant authorities would be called, as the Customs Department has no legal right to lay charges, and the goods would be handed over.

Similar procedures were followed in this particular case, but there are now concerns about possible vulnerabilities in the system that could possibly lead to similar, or even more dangerous scenarios.

This sequence of events has thus led to calls for extreme precautionary measures at each border point, says Thompson.

“We have further enhanced our risk management operations, adding an intelligence-driven approach as well. So, we work in collaboration with our local law enforcement and regional international law enforcement partners to help to stem the flow of these commodities. We recognize the threats that exist, and so we are very serious in addressing these threats because we recognize the harm. And this revelation that happened a few weeks ago is a perfect example of how these things can end up on the streets, at our doorsteps, and now at our school. So, the Customs Department is committed in reinforcing our enforcement arm and looking for these types of commodities to ensure that we do our part at the entry point to hold these things here, intercept them, disrupt whatever trade syndicate that might be building, to disrupt them, and if possible bring people to [be] prosecuted as well,” explained Thompson.

Persons with a record of being involved in such illicit activities, continued Thompson, are placed on a monitoring list, and the next shipment under their name is automatically flagged.

In regards to speculation that some officer could have tipped off Gamboa about this shipment that had been sitting there since January, Thompson believes that each of his officers is aware of the type of repercussions an act like that could have, including prosecution to the fullest.

He pointed to the extent to which his officers were going to make sure the process was conducted correctly, even without the assistance of an X-ray machine to detect the gummies.