Email

Print

But, first off, he asked us to mask his identity because the threats were so direct and made use of so much detailed personal information. But he says he had to come forward, because Belizeans need to recognize that when they go to Chetumal to breeze off for a weekend, the Mexican mafia could be watching them. His story begins on Easter Monday night, March 28th, at 11:40 in his room at the Fiesta Inn, when he, his wife and daughter were awakened by a person he thought to be the receptionist:...

Voice of Victim
"It was the receptionist who addressed me by name and told me that the commandant of the police was there and wanted to speak to me, said to me yes sir and addressed me by name again. He also addressed me by name again when he came on the phone telling me that there was an incident taking place in the vicinity about a block from Fiesta Inn, including some Traficantes and that two of them were registered in the room next to me and so he wanted to let us know that he was looking out for our safety. By this time I was already scared out of my widths, based on the situation because the first conversation he had said that if I hear gun fired or anything I should just stay put, lay down on the room. The second conversation, he said that for security purposes he just needed to make some verification of my status, of the details concerning me, which the hotel had already had some of those details. He wanted to know our full names of everyone in the room and our ages. He wanted to know the vehicle I was driving, color of it, make etc. for security purposes I complied. He asked me if I had any cellular phones and how many. I let him know how many. He ask which ones were Belize and if I had Mexican. I said yes I had a Mexican phone. He asked that the Belize phones be turned off immediately and to leave on the Mexican phone. He then hung up and said he would call back. He didn't call back on the Mexican phone and that is where things took a different shift. He then asked me that for security purposes again, he needed to know how much money I was carrying. I said very little and I gave him the amount I was carrying. He then told me that he would put me on hold, not to release this call and that he would check on me every 5-10 minutes to make sure I was okay and do not leave the room."

"This went on for over an hour, after which time he then proceeded to change his story and said he is one of the top bosses of the narcotraficking in that area, tied to the Sinaloa Cartel and that in fact the story remain that there were guys in the room next to me of a competing cartel that they needed to extinguish. His boss then let me know categorically without the shadow of a doubt that they were big people in the cartel and that at that time I asked him that I thought I was speaking earlier to the commandant of the police and he said yes, 'we own the police.' He said 'would you like to speak with him again?' At that time he asked me that if I would like to make a contribution, (that's how he put it) a small contribution to the cartel, that they were asking all the people they had contacted in the hotel for a contribution. I said and how much is that contribution and he said $5,000 Pesos. I agreed. I said I'll put it in an envelope and slide it under the door. He said no sir, you will do no such thing. You go to walk across to the Oxxo, which is 3 blocks in the hotel. He said 'do you know the Oxxo?' I said I think I know where it is. And you are going to deposit $500 Pesos into 10 phone numbers that I will give you and I said no, I am not going to no Oxxo. He said, well your girlfriend, your wife, whosever is there with you will have to go and do it for you. I said that will not happen either."

"That was when the conversation shifted and then he gave me to another man, who asked me how much I value my life and how much was I willing to pay to get out of that hotel alive, for me, my wife or anybody that was with me. I said a life has no value sir. He says exactly. Well what you are going to do is first break of dawn, you are going to go to a bank and we will instruct you. I then said that I am not a wealthy man and he says we know everything there is to know about you, we googled you, we know exactly who you are. He says you will go to the bank, we have people working there and you will drain those credit cards to their max as well as all the money you have and we will tell you where you will give it to us and in return we will let you return to Belize with your life. I said well sir, I am not doing that either, so you have to come and kill me here tonight, you will have to do it here because I am not leaving this hotel at all til its time to go to Belize and I am not going to deliver any money to no Oxxo or to no Bank."

"At that point, he told me that he'll do better than that, because we will kill you, because I am going to make sure that we plant a kilo of Cocaine whether in your room or in your car and you will serve the rest of your years, which he already knew my age, in a Mexican prison and the female or females that are with you will likewise serve the rest of their lives in a female prison, being violated daily."

"At that point I said sir, this conversation has ended and I hung up. At that point I made a call to Belize to my family to advise them what was happening and my second call was to a friend that I have in Belize in the military, who then made the connection to the Chetumal Navy. The Navy would have been there within 30 minutes. They were. Now, out of protection I got surprised, I didn't expect that amount of protection. But they told me this is not the first time that this had occurred and not the first time at Fiesta Inn, that it had happened before and that the employees are in cahoots - the top navy man. You must realize that in all the time this is happening I am still in fear because I am not sure if the people I am dealing with are involved in all of this any at all."

So was it really the Navy that came to whisk him and his companions away? Find out tomorrow in part two of our interview - when our subject will tell us what happened next, and share key security tips anyone travelling to Chetumal needs to know.

Our interviewee told us that the Navy Commander stated plainly that there was collusion from hotel staff at the Fiesta Inn - and this wasn't the first time it had happened there. We contacted the Fiesta Inn in Chetumal and they told us that they could not give us information, and not to call back.