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                  Chester Williams

Chester Williams, Former Commissioner of Police

“I don’t want to comment much about it at this time, but certainly, yes, he was on our radar and we have indeed gathered information that he was connected to one of the cartel groups in Mexico. And so when I saw the news that he was captured, it was no surprise to me. He flee, believes for whatever reason and he went to the USA, I believe he was seeking asylum. I am not sure if how far he got with that. But like you write the reported, he’s now in the custody state of the US authorities, and it’s a matter for them to deal with now.”

Williams says Loria’s capture comes as no surprise to law enforcement here, given that Belizean authorities had already linked him to a Mexican cartel long before U.S. agents took him into custody.

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                       Oscar Arnold

Oscar Arnold, Belize’s Ambassador to Mexico

“We would advise any car dealers if you are at the border to wait a few days, stay there a few days longer. I know it will cost them a little bit more with hotel and food, but it would be easier to do so. This morning on the press conference that President Sheinbaum did they said that they have looked at all the areas, addressed all the blockages and regained control of those areas where there were blockages or where there were major or significant blockage yesterday. But my advice would be, any car dealer that is coming down to wait a few more days to ensure that things are even more calm and then to make your journey to try to get home.”

Belizean Car Dealers Pause Amid Mexico’s Chaos

Belizean car dealers are also keeping a close eye on the unrest unfolding in Mexico, as cartel‑related violence continues to ripple through key travel routes. Many dealers who source vehicles from the United States are now in a holding pattern, waiting for the all‑clear that Ambassador Oscar Arnold says could still be days away. Among them is Tevonne Phillips, owner of Accelerate Belize, who knows the long road home better than most. He told News Five that several of his colleagues are still parked in place, literally, because safety has always been the biggest concern when crossing Mexico. For now, they’re watching, waiting, and hoping conditions stabilize before they get back on the road.

                Tevonne Phillips

Tevonne Phillips, Owner, Accelerate Belize

“My personal last trip was in December. I did two trips in December. That was a high pace month for me. I have one of my transporters who went up in January for two vehicles for me, Jose. I don’t have any trip currently planned, but from the feedback we are getting, right now, Maria the broker that I use she was not letting anybody cross up until maybe Tuesday. But that is not a definite that you are going to cross Tuesday. You have to monitor the situation in Mexico and see what will be the outcome. And then she will decide. At the end of the day, Maria is one of those brokers who have you back in any situation. Her first thing is always safety for us Belizeans especially because she has a good relationship with us. So, her thing is always safety, safety, safety. If she does not feel safer and her correspondence is not giving her the tombs up to move any operation then she halts until an all clear. Mexico dah Mexico, any number could play in Mexico. For me I understand how this thing works. These guys do what they need to do to survive. Our job is to follow the rules, regulations and simply abide by whatever structure they have in place. There are instances you get robbed. There are instances somebody come brush you a little five hundred peso, a thousand pesos. But from my experience, I have never gotten one of those violent experience where an M-16 is in your face. They stop you on the road but we understand that at the end of the day deh bally want deh piece and you trod on. If you try fight that you are creating an uproar that is not necessary. So, that is my experience, other guys can tell you different.”

In short, if you’re planning that road trip back to Belize with vehicles, the safest move right now is to wait it out.

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The post Ambassador Arnold Urges Car Dealers: Delay Mexico Drive first appeared on Greater Belize Media.

Paul Lopez, Reporting

A Saturday hangout along Barton Creek ended in tragedy when twenty‑year‑old Manuela Vanegas and twenty‑three‑year‑old Jerrington Ingram were gunned down on their walk back into Unitedville. The pair had spent the afternoon cooling off by the creek with two others, but about fifteen minutes into their hike home, a gunman waited near the bridge and opened fire, killing them on the spot.

                      Stacy Smith

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“Preliminary investigation suggest that the victims may have returned from swimming at a nearby creek when they were accosted. The area was canvassed with a view to identify potential witnesses and to obtain video footage which we hope would be of assistance to the investigation.”

Vanegas’ brother told News Five his sister had only come to Unitedville for a quick visit with her cousin, and in a tragic twist, she and Ingram had only started seeing each other about three weeks ago.

              Voice of: Brother of Deceased

Voice of: Brother of Deceased

“Basically to our understanding when she was coming from around the creek, around four to five, they were all coming together, but my cousin left ahead. And it was the gentlemen that died along with her. And to our understanding, after my cousin left, they heard seven gunshots. They ran back, so two bodies on the ground and ran home to call someone for assistance. But that is as much details as we got.”

              Manuela Vanegas

Paul Lopez

“In terms of the relationship between your sister and Mr. Ingram, what was that like?”

Voice of: Brother of Deceased

“Well, first we thought it was a friendship, but my understanding is that they were seeing each other. They were starting out as boyfriend and girlfriend. That is as much as we know. We did know if they were actually together.”

             Jermaine Jerrington Ingram

Family members say Vanegas met Ingram through her cousin and insist she wasn’t the target, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Meanwhile, talk in the village hints that Ingram’s past may have put him at risk, but his sister rejects that claim, saying men in the area openly threatened to kill him.

        Voice of: Sister of Deceased

Voice of: Sister of Deceased

“He was and I am certain he was the intended target. The female, his girlfriend, innocent soul got taken away because she was associating with my brother. Jerrington was not a gang member, he was not a problem child. Anybody who knows him personally knows he was a quiet child. But he was the intended target. Threats were made, threats were sent two weeks prior.”

Jerrington’s sister says a brawl at the community center weeks ago sparked rumors that he was involved, rumors the family denies, but they claim one relative of the men in that fight vowed revenge and named Jerrington as a target, and despite their repeated warnings, police never stepped in.

Voice of: Sister of Deceased

“These set of kids are being protected by the police. These set of kids are being protected by San Ignacio Police. Whatever bond they have with San Ignacio Police nothing will happen. I am telling you this and you will listen to this how many years. nothing will come out of this. My brother will die, done die, rotten and these boys will kill, kill, kill, because they will walk free. These police don’t listen.”

                  Manuela Vanegas

Tonight, two families are grieving, one saying their son’s death could have been prevented, and the other mourning a young woman who was killed simply because she was with the wrong person at the wrong time.

Voice of: Brother of Deceased

“To be honest my sister does not have any criminal past. She does not have any type of bad blood with anyone. So, the only thing to our understanding is that it is just somebody else past that came back at them and she was just there at the wrong time. She was quite charismatic, kindhearted, she was outspoken and loved to state her opinions.”

The families of Manuela Vanegas and Jermaine Ingram are left with unanswered questions and a deep sense of injustice. Authorities are yet to establish a motive. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.

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The post Barton Creek Escape Turns Deadly for Young Couple first appeared on Greater Belize Media.

Shane Williams Reporting…

Grief now fills the Usher family yard, after forty‑three‑year‑old Marlon Usher was stabbed to death Sunday night outside his usual hangout on Dorris Brooks Crescent. Trouble had been brewing since Friday, when a man confronted him over accusations involving a woman. Neighbors thought the argument had cooled, but it flared back up when the same man returned with a knife and attacked. Usher collapsed in the yard and died on the way to the KHMH, leaving his mother, Brenda Usher, devastated.

                      Brenda Usher

Brenda Usher, Mother of Deceased

“How they wa kill my lee bwai weh da wa hard working boy? Weh work every day? They wa kill my lee boy fi wa woman but ah noh wa di call name but I noh know if da that but that da part ah it.”

Brenda Usher is still recovering from a stroke, but now she’s facing an even heavier burden, finding the strength to bury her son, the premature baby she once nicknamed ‘Tiny,’ who grew into a kind, hardworking man she says never looked for trouble.

Brenda Usher

“He da wa nice person. He wa laugh. He da like the lee clown and di give the jokes. Yes, he wah got yo the laugh although yo vex sometime with ah. Although ah vex sometime with ah and ah the rail up with ah fi left lone them woman. Find yoself wa good gyal weh want yo and you want ya. And ah neva done til a mek they separate. And ah tell the gyal to ah tell left lone my son because da lee bwai wa kill my son because da lee bwai da wa murderer. Ah noh fraid fi she it.”

Shane Williams

“And now you have to bury your son while you’re still recovering from a stroke. How will you deal with this?”

Brenda Usher

“I noh have no kinda thing fi seh money fi bury my son  soh I would want ask the public or anybody weh want help me fi please come help me.”

Police are looking for one suspect as they investigate the fatal stabbing.

                      Stacy Smith

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“Police are seeking one male person  in connection with the fatal stabbing of forty-three-year-old Marlon Usher, which occurred around nine fifteen p.m. on Sunday, February twenty-second. What we know so far in the course of this investigation is that Usher was walking on Dorris Brooks Street when he was accosted by the suspect who inflicted the fatal injuries to him.”

Through tears, she says the accused is someone who grew up around her family, a painful reality that makes the loss even harder to understand.

Brenda Usher

“I know the person good. The person grew up with them, with my children them. That person grow with them, come up with them and that person I could call ih name because da {suspect name} killed my son, but one thing I got to tell {suspect name} ih wa turn inna ih own traps. Ih gwen inna ih own traps. We noh wa du ah nothing. Ih gwen mess with the wrong person and that waw eh wa happen cause when yo do bad, bad follow yo.”

Neighbors along Arlington Drive and Dorris Brooks Crescent say Marlon Usher was the go‑to handyman who never hesitated to help with a job, but tonight he leaves behind a young daughter and a mother recovering from a stroke who now has to plan his funeral. Shane Williams for News Five.

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The post Neighborhood Handyman ‘Tiny’ Fatally Ambushed first appeared on Greater Belize Media.

Shane Williams, Reporting

Jahreem Staine, also known as ‘32’, is a prominent street figure and the center of several violent cases, but what worries police even more is the string of public shootings swirling around him. On September 3^rd, 2025, just minutes after walking out of the Magistrate’s Court, gunmen opened fire on him along busy Coney Drive near Buttonwood Bay Nazarene Primary School, spraying nearly three dozen shots as residents and schoolchildren dove for cover. Staine drove away unharmed.

And less than a month later, chaos erupted again, this time on the Phillip Goldson Highway, where gunmen chased down Staine’s vehicle and unleashed a barrage of shots that sent commuters scrambling and wounded two B.D.F. soldiers before the shootout ended near a busy call center and Horizon Academy; police have since charged two men with attempted murder.

And even with multiple attempts on his life and repeated warnings from police, Staine is back out on bail, this time on charges tied to contempt of court and alleged gang activity, even as he still stands accused in the attempted murder of rival Jimmy Rojas, a reminder that his presence in public has sparked violent retaliation before.

And barely hours after walking free on bail, gunfire erupted again, this time on a public basketball court in Lake‑I, where automatic weapons sprayed the area, hitting Jahreem Staine and three other young men as bystanders ducked and scattered; all four were rushed to the hospital and are now in stable condition.

Stacy Smith

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“ What we have learned so far, and I must say that the incident was captured on police surveillance camera, is that those four male persons along with others were on the bleachers in front of the basketball court when a male person emerged from behind the bleachers and went onto the court and fired several shots, which resulted in the aforementioned injuries. The surveillance camera and the footage there from is being meticulously scrutinized with a view of apprehending these assailants or this assailant.”

Shane Williams

“ Is there anything that the police can do to prevent him from being at public events like these who are hot?”

ASP Stacy Smith

“I know that the conditions of his bail Included that he ought not to be in certain places around certain time. However, certainly when that matter will be addressed, which I anticipate it will be at the high court it will certainly be for more stringent provisions to be placed. You would also note that he was recently released, I believe, on eleventh of February and it was just, I think a few days after that he was once again arrested for being in breach of his bail conditions. The prosecutor objected to bail. He changed his plea to guilty and he was fined and that was the reason that he was out on the street. However, as I stated, we’re in the process of having the necessary documents be placed before the high court to address the matter in that venue.”

And what’s fueling even more outrage tonight is that every one of these shootings, from Coney Drive to the highway, to a neighborhood basketball court packed with kids, has unfolded in public spaces where families go about their daily lives. Should the courts, police, and lawmakers rethink how they deal with high‑risk suspects to keep the public safer? Shane Williams for News Five.

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The post Another Attempt at Jahreem Staine Puts Innocents in Danger first appeared on Greater Belize Media.

                         Stacy Smith

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“As a consequence of the ongoing investigation into the double murder of Zamar Alvarez and Calvert Westby Junior, which occurred on Friday 13 February, 2026 in Belmopan City, police are formally arrested and charge nineteen-year-old Jahan Flores for two counts of murder.”

Reporter

“I guess there will be further arrest…”

ASP Stacy Smith

“Yes, the investigation is ongoing. What I can say is that the arrested person is someone who. Was familiar with both of the deceased.”

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The post Breakthrough Arrest in Belmopan Double Murder first appeared on Greater Belize Media.

                           Stacy Smith

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“The investigation commenced on Saturday 21st February at around eight o ‘clock p.m. when officers on patrol in the precinct one area were alerted to the signs of shots being fired in the vicinity of Curassow Street, Belize City. The officers were advised of the specific location of the incident, and upon the arrival of these officers, they witness Mr. Damion Dawson who was suffering an apparent gunshot wound to the body. Mr. Dawson was ferried to the hospital where he is listed in a stable condition and the scene was processed. Similarly, this incident was captured on police camera and those footages are now being reviewed with a view to advancing the ongoing investigation. No motive has been established in the shooting.”

Police say they’re analyzing the video closely as they try to uncover who fired the shot and what led up to it.

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The post Curassow Street Shooting Caught on Police Camera first appeared on Greater Belize Media.

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