Police are currently on high alert due to an extortion attempt on well-known Orange Walk businessman Rosendo “Chendo” Urbina, Jr., and his wife on Sunday, December 4, 2011, in the Honey Camp area of Orange Walk.
Urbina, Jr., is the son of Rosendo Urbina, Sr., who is Belize’s Ambassador to Mexico and the owner of the A&R chain of stores around the country.
Today, Amandala spoke to Doug Singh, Minister of Police and Public Safety, who told us that the incident unfolded around 6 p.m., when several men (5-7) wearing masks and dark clothing held up the couple at gunpoint near the entrance to their estate.
Urbina’s wife’s cell phone was stolen, along with their vehicle. A number was given to the Urbinas, and they were told that they had thirty-six hours to pay a certain amount of money, or their family members would be hurt.
The assailants then told Urbina where his vehicle would be abandoned, so that they could recover it at a later time, and they left.
Singh said that Urbina and his wife quickly went to the nearest police station and informed the police; responding officers briskly began investigations. They eventually recovered the stolen vehicle at the location that the assailants had indicated on the following day.
When he was asked if they knew whether the assailants were locals or international, Singh said that there are suspicions that there was outside help, but the Urbinas heard some of the men with local accents when they were conversing among themselves.
When asked about Belize police getting outside help with the investigation, Singh said that they will be in regular contact with Interpol.
He also confirmed to us that the entire Urbina family left the country late yesterday as a result of the incident. According to Singh, the police don’t know where they are currently located. He said that they expect to remain abroad while the investigation is in its initial phase
Singh and one of his senior officers, Assistant Commissioner of Police Mike Segura, had given a late evening briefing to several sections of the media, but there were several other media outlets, including our Amandala, who were not told of the briefing. When we asked why the courtesy was not extended to us and others, for what it’s worth, Singh said that he hadn’t received authorization from the family to release the details of their ordeal until late yesterday.
He said that the two television stations initially contacted him seeking comments, and he declined because the family had not yet consented to releasing the details. He added that the police didn’t want to complicate the investigation by going public so soon.
Singh continued that he realized that the two stations already had leads, and the decision was made to set the record straight to avoid misinformation. He said that he received the consent of the family late yesterday as they were boarding the plane to leave.
According to him, these stations came to mind because they already had leads.
He also told us that this is not the first extortion attempt reported to them, that they are currently investigating a case where a family from Corozal was extorted for money, and they actually paid. Singh also said that the police suspect that a relative is responsible for that extortion attempt.