The Belize Defence Force today reported that it has destroyed close to one-hundred
and fifty thousand marijuana plants and almost a ton of compressed marijuana
in the north and south of the country so far for 2010. That’s a lot of
weed, but apparently, there’s still a lot more on the streets, where there’s
no scarcity being reported right now. And that’s probably why the BDF
keeps soldiering on; marijuana is still classified as an illegal drug and the
streets say it is in plentiful supply right now a good part of the army’s
effort is spent detecting and eradicating large plantations. This morning at
dawn, they took us on one of those missions where I got to see first hand what
all is involved in the destruction of those plantations. We were taken to a
plantation with 1600 plants south of Carmelita village.
Jim McFadzean Reporting,
It was supposed to be one of the usual staged for TV go up in smokes, a few
acres of good ole green marijuana plants scheduled for 05:00, that’s military
time, but at 06:00 this morning, this very poorly underdressed reporter somewhat 
tired after a couple hours of snooze is here still looking for the great prize.
Using intelligence both on the ground and in the air, a small detachment of
soldiers pan out early this morning under the cover of dawn to secure a perimeter
of less than a mile where two suspected marijuana farms are. The BDF’s
air wing provides the group with key mapping information from reconnaissance
flights conducted two days before.
Lt Col Ganney Dortch, BDF Chief of Staff
“Somewhere around here. It is not that far. This is where the village
is. It is ten kilometres away from the village.”
In the midst of this thick vegetation and nagging bugs, the search continues,
its now 07:00 hours, and so far the two plantations have been identified. In
the process of securing the suspected area, a discovery of a gun trigger handle
and signs of habitation have sounded alarm bells amongst the contingent of soldiers
and the accompanying press is ordered to take cover. After the all clear signal
is given, the reason becomes clear. The defence force has stumbled into what
seems like a well established and carefully managed marijuana camp.
Mapping coordinates showing it at one kilometre south of the Joe Goff’s
Pine Ridge. And while there’s no human in sight, a friendly blood hound
seems to take pleasure in introducing us to the site.
A freshly cooked pot of beans, the hanging remains of a deer, male clothing
strewn on a wooden bed frame, several syringes, and English language books,
give a partial insight to security forces as they try to come up with a profile
of the camp’s occupants. A further search reveals a well, plant fertilizer,
a small supply of groceries and what seems like some amount of subsistence planting
of pumpkin and cabbage amidst the marijuana crop.
This morning’s BDF operation is one of many conducted as part of its
mandate, to eradicate and stem the cultivation of this controversial plant known 
on the street as ganja, weed, and for modern day users as chronic and 420.
The vocal Jeremy Spooner, co-host of the WAVE Radio and Television ‘Fus
ting da Mawning’ talk show, believes its time for the country to decriminalize
marijuana and have the Security forces dedicate more of its resources to in
his words”…more serious crimes.
Jeremy Spooner, Talk Show Host
“My take on them whole thing about using the security forces to seek
and destroy marijuana plantations I believe with the present mindset towards
marijuana I feel it may be a waste of our money to conduct these operations
when you have countries like in America and Europe which are decriminalizing
the use of marijuana. I think Belize should take that same kind of approach.
I have a modern outlook on marijuana. I feel that people in the world today
should have a choice of the recreational drugs that they do take because you
can’t exclude liquor which is legal. That is a drug and it has caused
a lot of devastation in the community when people drink and I agree that marijuana
if abused can also bring about problems for the user. I feel that to say legalize
marijuana is probably a very frightening word for a lot of people and so I believe
decriminalizing it, where you are allowed to have a certain amount and if you
are ever caught with it and so on and I believe have a right to use it for medicinal
or for recreational purpose.”
The already over-extended Belize Defence Force says a significant deployment
of resources are indeed dedicated to this type of effort.
Lt Col Ganney Dortch,
“Whenever we conduct such operations it means that we have to leave
the level of threat and we have to ensure we have a back up plan which means
the employment of more human resources. Apart from that it also entails using
other resources such as the vehicles, feeding etc.”
Its now almost 08:00, and after trekking thru harm’s way for the last
couple of hours, it’s 420, the grand prize and now this very tired and
hungry reporter is calling it a day. Reporting for Seven News, I’m Jim
McFadzean.
The estimated 1600 marijuana trees were uprooted and destroyed by fire,
along with the contents of the camp settlement. And if you are wondering about
the hound puppy, well, there was a tussle over adoption as one television reporter
and a member of the BDF detachment both declared first rights. At the end, The
BDF officer won that argument!
As is the case in the destruction of most marijuana fields, no one
was found in the area and no arrests were made. That figure we quoted at the
top of the story for 2010 - which is close to 150 thousand plants destroyed
is a sharp increase from the previous two years. n 2008, seventeen thousand
plants were destroyed and in 2009, thirty thousand were destroyed. In just the
first quarter of 2010, the BDF has have trebled the combined total for those
two years.
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