Belize City, Wed. Dec. 15, 2021– Reports have been emerging of increased volatility within the Krooman Lagoon area, which is known to be inhabited by a large number of undocumented immigrants and squatters. After a disturbingly violent incident last weekend, in which several members of a family, including an elderly woman, were brutally clubbed and their home set on fire by a group of drunken men (including persons reputed to be members of the MS-13 gang), the Police Department took steps to increase its presence in the area.
On Wednesday, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams led his team on a meet-and-greet through the neighborhoods within that area. It has been reported that certain members of the community are being victimized by a group of young men who are pledging allegiance to the MS-13 gang, and after his walkthrough, Commissioner Williams explained to the media that the young men have been trying to exercise dominion over the residents in the Krooman Lagoon area and even control the water supply – discontinuing residents’ access to water at will.
The aim of the Police Department is to disrupt their operations by detaining and charging those who are participating in gang activity. A police tent has been set up in the area, and the Commissioner said that the GI3 Unit has also been tasked with patrolling the area. Several senior officers from varying divisions were also seen accompanying Williams on his walkthrough of the area.
The Krooman Lagoon area is known to be a swampy area filled with “London bridges” and makeshift pathways which inhibit the Police Department’s ability to conduct their standard mobile patrols. As a result, the department has scheduled foot patrols and has even considered the use of drones to be able to more widely monitor the criminal activities occurring in the area. Commissioner Williams told local reporters that while he suspects the purported members of the MS-13 gang all belong to one family and amount to less than twenty persons, their presence in the country is cause enough for concern and action. He further commented, “If it is that they are irregular migrants and they’re causing us problems, then we don’t need them in our country”.
Williams also mentioned having a conversation with the mother of the persons who allegedly were involved in last weekend’s attack and who are allegedly MS-13 members. “I said to her that the information is that her sons are the leaders of a particular gang in this area and as a parent she needs to do what she can to speak to her children so that they desist from doing what it is that they continue to do to intimidate people. Yes, she shied away from me – what I said to her, but at the same time, did not deny the fact,” Commissioner Williams said.
Apparently, Violeta Singh and her family, the victims of last weekend’s attack, have also not been as cooperative as the Police Department wanted them to be, but Commissioner Williams is still hopeful that the community will step forward and assist them in addressing the problem. Reports are that Singh, and later her husband, brother-in-law and mother-in-law, were attacked by the men after she asked two of them to leave her small shop when the two started to fight. Their home was later burned to the ground while they were at the hospital.