And while there's no compliant in that case - there's also none in the case of 4 SPU officers who are accused of stealing a drug runners cocaine stash and making off with it. But police don't have the cocaine and the person whom it was stolen form also doesn't want to make a complaint. So, they basically have allegations of wrongdoing. Today the Commander of the Professional Standards Branch told us what they know so far:...
ACP Chester Williams
"We have received information that sometime in June of this year, elements of the special patrol unit went on a drug operation in the Santa Elena area of Cayo District and that operation yielded a number of parcels of cocaine, which the officers from investigation did not turn up at the police station or at the exhibit room and neither did they charge anybody in respect of those drugs. We have recorded statements from one of the individual officers involved and that statement is telling us certain things, confirming that the drugs were indeed located. As a result of that, an internal investigation was launched by my office and we are preparing charges hopefully by tomorrow. The officers concerned, three special patrol unit personnel, will be charged disciplinary for act of prejudicial order and discipline. And the reason why disciplinarily is that we do not have enough to go criminally because the drugs cannot be located. We have checked in areas we believed the drugs could have been concealed but apparently, the drugs had been moved and the person whom the drug was taken away from is refusing to cooperate with the investigation. So, to proceed criminally will not give us the result that we want, so we decided to deal with the matter internally."
Jules Vasquez - Reporter
"Sir, does this level of criminality, this blatant criminality, I mean we are talking about drug trafficking we are talking about drug theft, does this concern you?"
ACP Chester Williams
"Of course it will concern us as members of the Belize Police Department. We need to have an organization where the public can have trust and confidence in the work that we do. And if we will be going out on operations and seize drugs, especially in such quantity, and keep it for our own personal benefit, then that is of great concern."
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