Tonight, the BDF and Police Department are under intense public scrutiny in Orange Walk because a bunch of lawmen are accused of beating and killing a town resident.
Here's what happened. At 4:00 this morning, two members of an elite police and BDF unit, known as the Belize Special Assignment Group - or B-SAG - went on a home search along with one Orange Walk based police officer from another specialized team, the Special Patrol Unit.
The trio pulled up at Ariel Audinette Salazar's residence in a black pickup with camouflage uniforms and wearing masks.
They stormed the residence where he was socializing with Oscar PAYES, Noe Sanchez and a female friend. Sanchez says they were looking for a stolen cell phone - and inquiring about the female friend. Here's his account of what sounds like outlaw brutality- as told to CTV-3:
Noe Sanchez - Victim
"They knocked the door once and the second time the door fly. When the door fly they said head down, face down, when they told us face down we face down just like an officer come in and tell you face down, you will down, they done have the guns, they done have everything, they have everything the hold against you so you will face down, you don't want to watch them, you don't want to see them, so we faced down. When we faced down dread bally get hit first then afterwards me and they look on me because I got an army bag, I got my soldier bag right there so they start to shut me down but most of them covered their face with black copachaos, they call it copachaos, only the general and a next one they got their face open and they asking all these questions in Spanish and Creole so the language all mixed up. Why they never like what moms say take us to station, beat we up or just beat up all of we and take we out from here, take us beat up at station for the phone, all of us done get beat up. Take us to the station, beat we all with the law on their face, why they want to kill us, why will they buss shot and thing on us. When they bringing down the two bwai they the beat them up, beat them with no mercy."
Reporter
"Did they say why is it that they came in here?"
Noe Sanchez
"They came in and say who is the girl, where is the girl, afterwards they asked for communications what are her digits and which phone to contact us. They didn't ask for the phone from the girl, they just said which phone the contact is, we come for the contact. For one phone I don't think its 4 lives or 3 lives they would have killed, 3 lives they will kill for one phone, I think that is worth it."
The officers allegedly put what a police internal report calls a "severe beating" on 46 year old Salazar, and Payes.
Both men were taken to the Northern Regional Hospital where Salazar died at a few minutes to eleven this morning. His sister Manuelita Salazar told us that they were called to respond to his home - and found her brother dying on the street:
Manuelita Salazar - Sister of Deceased
"When we reached here they were laid down on that street there, the next on laid down over there, the bawl in pain, they were crying so when we gone to them to pick them up my little brother said ma we can't move because I'm in bad pain. The next boy gone to him, we pick him up, he sat down a little while and he threw down himself. From there we picked him up again and when we were walking the boy was bringing him to put him in the vehicle, the boy said that how his eye open and he's not seeing so from there they took him and they took him in the vehicle and we took him to hospital. Then now we talked to the hospital and we want an ambulance and they told us they have no nurse to come look for my brother so now we went back again then the police and the ambulance come and they picked up my little brother on the stretcher and from there we took him. When they took him in, his hands were done getting white already so from there I told my husband his hand done the get white, I said what happened to my little brother he will probably die, he said no it's only his blood not the circulate. Then from there we gone back to try get the money to do his ultrasound then my sister called me and said my little brother died and when we rushed gone back to the hospital he never died yet but in a little 15 minutes the doctors called us and said come in, he said he wants to talk to the Salazar them. When we went in my little brother done dead already, the doctor said the whole of this body broke up him, broke up all his insides, all his bone here (chest) broke up, internal bleeding killed him. All of us start to bawl but all we want is justice, to god this no the go the right way, my little brother they killed him for nothing because the little boy and girl had a fuss over a phone, why will they go kill my little brother, they beat up the 4 boys up there and then they could always just pick them up and take them to lock them down but they beat up all of them, my little brother they beat him up, the pour bucket of water, push his head in there, take it out, push his head in there and take it out and they wanted to drown the boy right there. Man that no right because they are law to let them do people that thing there, we need justice. All I want is justice, please I need justice, I just want to make them pay for what they did to my little brother please."
Doctors told Salazar's family that he died from internal bleeding because his ribs had been broken and punctured his organs. Payes remains in critical condition at the NRH. Reports say that both men suffered major injuries to their midsection.
Now, it's a major black eye for the BDF and the police - and the Professional Standards Branch Commander ACP Chester Williams rushed to Orange Walk today to begin his investigation - which focuses on the police officer allegedly involved. He is an SPU officer assigned to BSAG. There is also a police criminal investigation into the killing.
It's a high profile case because the allegations point to the highest ranks of the BSAG - and implicates two BDF Officers from that unit - on a pointless search - which falls way outside their authority.
The Belize Special Assignment Group is a little known unit of the national security apparatus. They are supposed to be the most elite and covert security force in Belize - with training from the US in high risk operations. Their responsibilities extend to counter-terrorism operations.
Now, what they were doing at a private residence this morning looking for a cell phone defeats all logic. And clearly - since the BDF have no power to search or arrest - they took along the police officer for that reason.
But from what we are told it may be difficult to pin the blame on specific officers because identifying persons with masks is difficult. The B-SAG unit carry masks as part of their uniforms - supposedly for covert operations.
One of the few times you've seen the B-SAG publicly was in 2013, when a small riot erupted on George Street after four men were slain. They appeared on Basra Street to contain the mob and fired directly over their heads.
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