Photo: Example of a makeshift airstrip

by Kristen Ku

LADYVILLE, Thurs. May 25, 2023

The Belize Defense Force (BDF) has recently been encountering increased resistance from villagers in remote villages in the south of the Toledo district, resistance that is hampering their mission to dismantle illegal airstrips to discourage transnational drug planes from landing in the country. The drama in the South has been unfolding since the planes have apparently been directed from the northern and central parts of the country to these remote areas.

Villagers, presumably entangled with narco-traffickers from neighboring Guatemala, are showing uncommon resistance against the BDF’s efforts. This hostility has impacted the BDF’s work.

“It is no secret that we have a problem in the south,” Brigadier General Azariel Loria said. Back in April, near a makeshift runway in a remote area of the district, charred remains of a suspected drug plane were found. This marked the end of a period of relative quiet in the illicit drug traffic through Belize. The events have since pushed the drug trafficking patterns deeper into the country’s far reaches.

It is believed that the resistance against the BDF and the police force is not merely an expression of defiance, but a calculated strategy. Recently, in what could be seen as an attempt to rally support against the BDF, the village council chairman from Corazon Creek accused the soldiers of property damage. However, an investigation revealed that the allegations were untrue, suggesting the existence of a deliberately misleading campaign.

In the face of growing resistance, Minister of National Defense and Border Security, Florencio Marin, Jr. stands firm. “It is a huge challenge for our soldiers and officers out there, but we will not be deterred,” he said. “We won’t harm a community or anything like that, but we will do our job to deter transnational crime.”

While the BDF’s perseverance in this fight testifies to their commitment, the resistance signals a reality that anti narco-trafficking operations are being disrupted, reshaping the drug trafficking landscape in the South.

“…We believe that whenever they don’t receive their cargo, whenever we successfully deter the planes from landing here in Belize, there is frustration among them. We assume it is the Guatemalans that pressure them to do something about the situation, and hence the reason they are doing it. It is the Guatemalans, we believe, that are pressuring the persons in those villages that are dealing with moving the drugs to do something, to perhaps threaten, warn, tell our BDF and police, ‘if you guys don’t back off we are going to do something to you’,” explained Loria.

The Brigadier General has suggested the media visit to observe the work being done in the South.