BELIZE CITY, Mon. Dec. 24, 2018– At a police press briefing today, Acting Commissioner of Police Chester Williams told the media that police have not yet filed criminal charges against a police officer who was found in the vicinity of a suspected drug plane which touched down near BarrancoVillage, in the Toledo District.
ACP Williams also told the media that several police officers were placed on suspension from duty while an investigation continues.
On the night of Thursday, December 20, Police Constable Peter Graham was reportedly found in his SUV with aviation fuel and seats which resembled those that were on the suspected drug plane, a single-engine Cessna with the markings “Centurion 210,” which had landed between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. on a Mennonite farm.
PC Graham was reportedly along with a civilian, believed to be a Guatemalan national. Police Officer, PC John Ordonez, is also being investigated for his connection to the landing of the suspected drug plane.
ACP Williams told the media that the cops are also facing internal police discipline.
Belize authorities had received information from international counterparts that the plane had left Venezuela and was heading for Belize.
By the time police were able to mobilize a team of BSAG officers (Belize Special Assignment Group) and elements of the Anti-Narcotics unit and headed to the landing site, the plane was found, but its cargo was nowhere in sight.
ACP Williams told the media, “We received information that a plane was on the ground at Plett’s Farm in the Barranco area — that is about 3 miles away from Barranco — and we quickly deployed elements of the Anti-Narcotics unit as well as BSAG to the location where the plane was found. It is a single-engine plane, similar to the one that was found in the Blue Creek area couple months ago.
“Upon inspection of the plane, we found out that it had no content. A vehicle was seen not too far from the area where the plane was found and that vehicle was stopped and inside the vehicle was a police officer and a civilian. Inspection of that vehicle revealed one blue fifteen-gallon container which contained fuel, and a seat. The seat was observed to be of similar type and material as that of the plane. The two individuals were taken into custody and police conducted further investigation which led to the detention of two other police officers, all of whom are posted in the Toledo District, along with other civilians.
“They were kept in custody and interviewed; however, up to yesterday when they were released, we had not obtained sufficient evidence to levy charges on either of the detainees. Today, we suspended from duty PC Peter Graham and PC John Ordonez, pending the outcome of the investigation. I have put together an investigating team comprising of Major Crimes, Anti-Narcotics Unit, Professional Standards Branch and Special Branch, who will be tasked to vigorously pursue the investigation. And when that investigation is over, then we will see who will be charged, if any. However, the police officers who are being suspended will face disciplinary charges between now and Monday; after they have been charged disciplinarily, then they will go on interdiction.”
It was pointed out to ACP Williams that once more, police are investigating their own in relation to the landing of a drug plane in Belize. In September, Senior Superintendent David Chi was arrested and charged along with others for their alleged role in the landing of a drug plane in the north of the country.
ACP Williams replied, “We surely do not yet have the amount of evidence we need. We are almost there, I can tell you. Having the seat of the plane, couple minutes after the landing of the plane, surely creates a nexus between the occupants of that vehicle and the plane. And so we just want to be able to investigate further and gather additional evidence that we believe will be sufficient to lay charges and subsequent conviction. And so that is what I am hoping we will get from the newly composed investigative team.”
ACP Williams admitted that it is a concern that police officers are once more mixed up in illegal activities. “We are police and we are expected to uphold the law, and police officers are not supposed to be involved in things like these. But at the end of the day, we are a huge organization and police officers we hire are from the general populace and so we will have these things now and then where police officers will be caught involved in illegal activities. It is a matter for us to ensure that we address it, and address it adequately, and that’s what we are trying to do,” ACP Williams said.