| Any merchant who travels the road while transferring goods through Mexico will tell you that it can be a dangerous job.
That danger became real on Tuesday afternoon for Hyram Longsworth, a bus operator in Lord's Bank, when he was robbed at gunpoint of his vehicle and his newly-purchased bus in Mexico near the Border with Belize.
Today, he spoke to us about how the Mexican assailants robbed him of approximately $50,000 in cash and goods.
Here's what he told us about what he experienced.
Hyram Longsworth
"I know that the border is a bot tense and while coming from Los Indios into Matamoros heading to Belize."
Daniel Ortiz
"Which area is this sir?"
Hyram Longsworth
"This is in Mexico about 25-30 miles away from Matamoros I was high jacked by 3 armed Mexican men who then wanted to stop me and I drove my bus and fight them off at least half of a mile but then while going it got tough. These guys, I don't know what they really wanted and they continue and continue - the man had a dead shot at me. There was a guy in the back with what looked like a AK-47 and the next guy came out with a 9mm gun and told me to open the door. That's when I opened the door, but I believe then that was when they wanted money."
"The guy drove off with the bus and the SUV that I have. He then turned the bus around and drove to Matamoros. We traveled through this road at a daily basis and we spent thousands of dollars in Mexico. We need to be protected, at least from point A to point B in the danger zone. It's very bad."
Longsworth says that other merchants who move through these roads should travel together in greater numbers to decrease the likelihood of being robbed.
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