And while in recent months murders in Belize have not gotten to the level that would trigger a state of emergency, neighboring countries such as El Salvador and Honduras have had to resort to that method to control gang related crimes.
So what happens when the criminals from those countries flood into Belize? The Minister explained that the department has been able to weed them out quickly.
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
"I think we've been very swift whenever it is we do receive intelligence of criminal elements from neighboring countries in particular the MS13 elements coming into the country, historically, we've been very swift in taking action, getting them extradited, deported back to their country of origin and so yes that's always a concern whenever you have a state of emergency like the one in Salvador and you mentioned Guatemala and Honduras as well looking to implement states of emergencies so that is always a concern but I think we are all aware when somebody new comes into our communities and so once the community activates and reports suspicious or new characters coming into their community the police takes very swift action, goes to check it out, and if it that the person is here illegally or has any connection to the MS13, we take action to have them deported."
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