BELMOPAN – Police say they have detained seven Mexican nationals whom they believed had been sent to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country by a Mexican cartel to carry out a hit on a well-known drug dealer.
Police said that the men, who are being held in an undisclosed location, claimed to be consultants entering the country to work on a road construction project.
Police Commissioner Chester Williams said that law enforcement officials were on operations within the northern districts, particularly Corozal, when their attention was drawn to a group of Mexicans.
“I’m not going to disclose which station they are currently at because . . . that may pose some threat to police officers working within that particular station. But again, for their personal safety and the safety of the police officers, we moved them to an undisclosed location at this time where they are currently being interviewed.
“We have seen . . . information coming out of the Mexican press involving these individuals and I can assure you that we are working tirelessly to try and confirm or deny this information, but again we will remain vigilant along our northern borders as we continue to have incursions with Mexicans, and likewise, the influences that the Mexican cartels may have on our locals within the northern districts,” Williams told reporters.
Asked whether the men had come here to carry out a hit on a well-known drug personality, Williams responded by saying that the men claimed that they were involved in “some road consultancy”.
“They alleged that they own a construction company and are engaged in road consultancy. [That] information we are yet to confirm. I don’t want to go ahead of myself to say things that we will not be able to substantiate later on.
“So I will just end it by saying that the information coming out of the press in Chetumal is something we are looking at to ascertain if in fact they came for a particular individual and if either of them were recently involved in a shooting incident in Mexico, and finally, to see if they are members of the Caborca cartels that operate in the Quintana Roo area of Mexico,” Williams added. (CMC)