| And while he was available to us today, usually it's on Monday's that press officer Martinez delivers his press briefing. But the truth is, he only gives us some of the news. Every week, members of the media riddle him in vain with questions about crime news we've heard about from the public, but which police do not release publicly.
There's a disturbing number of these coming from Southern Belize. First, in Placencia, there's the beating death 63 year old Roy Waite Sr.
Weeks ago, he was beaten to death reportedly by some young men from well-connected families in the village - and the crime has gone unsolved and un-reported. Today's Reporter newspaper says that it has also gone largely un-investigated.
And then in Mango Creek alone, we know of at least three armed hold-ups in the past week that have not been reported.
The first reportedly occurred a week ago at "MY PLACE", where burglars stole a laptop, the bar-owner's licensed shotgun and an undisclosed amount of cash.
And then reports are that on Saturday, another Mango Creek bar, "EL BUEN AMIGO", was held up and all the waitresses were robbed.
And the night before last, at 7:00 pm "WENDY SHOP", a Chinese grocery in Mango Creek was reportedly held up by a gang of 5 men. According to civilian reports, two of the men had masks and assault rifles and another one had a nine millimeter pistol. They held up the proprietor and stole an undisclosed amount of cash.
Again, these are based on reliable, but unofficial reports since the police press office has not been forthcoming with information.
The police say they process and respond to complaints in two weeks.
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