BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Nov. 11, 2021 — Today, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Cheryl-Lynn Vidal, informed the public through a statement to local media that her office would not participate in any aspect of the investigation or prosecution of the 11 persons arrested and charged in connection with the narco jet landing in Bladen Village, Toledo District, that occurred last Thursday night.
Since that major bust, members of the Commander Operation Strike Team, formerly led by ACP Marco Vidal, the DPP’s husband, were charged directly for possession of the drugs and for the illegal landing. One of those persons, police officer Delwin Casimiro, is the former driver of the DPP. Members of the Belizean public did not overlook the close connection of Vidal to officers found to have been involved in the illicit operation, and many pointed to what appeared to be a risk of bias in the way the ensuing policing and prosecution process would be handled.
For her part, DPP Vidal said in her statement that she has known Casimiro since 2012 while he was a member of the now-disbanded Gang Suppression Unit (GSU). He was assigned to her security detail in 2019 and was reportedly her driver up until November 2020.
According to the DPP, she had no indication that Casimiro was involved in criminal activity, based on her interaction with him over the years. As such, she says the negative comments that link her to the wrongdoing of those officers who were under the oversight of her husband, ACP Marco Vidal, are “very hurtful, scurrilous and utterly untrue.” She additionally noted that those comments also damage public confidence in the criminal justice system, a system she has been a part of for almost 23 years.
She also revealed, on a personal note, that she has been separated from ACP Marco Vidal for almost a year.
In her remarks, she stated clearly that she had no knowledge of, or involvement in, the narco jet landing which took place last Thursday.
It is to be noted that those men connected to ACP Vidal’s unit are now assigned to different sections of the Police Department.