It's the kind of thing that hasn't happened in Belize for over a decade - and police hope that with the strong, effective response it won't happen again anytime soon. A special press conference with all the police brass was held this morning in Belize City to outline the sensational case. Daniel Ortiz was there:

Daniel Ortiz Reporting

Allen Whylie - Commissioner of Belize
"On Sunday, to be exact, we had a very heinous unspeakable crime that was committed against a young mother. In the Corozal district sometime after 7:30 that night, she was driving on a road in Santa Rita Village area, where 2 vehicles intercepted her vehicle and stop her from moving. Several persons came out of that vehicle and took her baby away, basically kidnap her child, a 1 year old baby."

Superintendent Andrew Ramirez - Officer Commanding, Corozal Police
"We have also confirmed that the child was taken in the Corozal district - Orange Walk district in a village during the course of Monday and then back to Corozal. We also confirmed that there was a contact number that was placed with the victim and through that number she was contacted at 11:03 p.m. where the demand for a certain amount of money was made."

ACP Russell Blackett - Officer Commanding, National Crime Investigation Branch
"When the call came in at 11:03 p.m. Sunday night, that was the only call with the instruction given to the victim, so all that time up to when the child was returned, there was no other contact with the mother."

Superintendent Andrew Ramirez
"The male voice had indicated the sum of what the commissioner mentioned, $450,000 US, and they had indicated Tuesday, referring to yesterday's date, for payment and further instructions would have been made on that Tuesday as location and time. The voice further indicated that if the money was not paid, then something would happen to the child. They did not say kill, but they say something would happen to the child."

As soon as the department got the news, they launched a major multi-department operation to lock down the Corozal and Orange Walk Districts.

Allen Whylie
"As a result on that information reaching the police, the officer commanding, Mr. Ramirez, who is here today, activated his quick response team, along with the other resources and put a number of checkpoints in place. I also asked the head NCIB, Assistant Commissioner Blackett to proceed to Corozal to take command of the situation and all coordination. Additional resources in terms of an anti-drug unit team, the mobile interdiction team, and a special patrol unit team were also deployed to provide additional human resources for operational purposes to get to the bottom of this crime. The Head of Special branch was also dispatched on Monday afternoon to also assist with his intelligence officers with the gathering of information."

Less than 24 hours later, police had a major break in the case.

Allen Whylie
"I am pleased to report that Monday night the child was safely handed over back to the police, despite the fact that demands had been made for a payment of ransom. Just this morning, a few minutes ago, the lead investigator, Mr. Ramirez, took a copy of the case file to the DPP for consultation in terms of whether or not we should proceed to charge, and who we should charge. She will also be giving further advice in terms of what additional work we may need to do. So, despite the fact the baby is safe, the investigation is still continuing. We have not put any charges on these persons. As I said, we have several persons in custody, and we do believe that we have the right persons. Whether or not they are the main players, as was asked earlier, or they are just functionaries, we are not in a position to say at this time, but we do believe that they knew what was happening."

With this swift undoing of the kidnapping ring, the police hopes to send a clear message that they are capable and ready to snuff out this type of crime:

Allen Whylie
"I think that our response in terms of the resources diploid - on the time diploid on the seniority of the officers diploid shows that we will not sit back and treat it like just any other crime. It is a very serious crime, it has serious consequences and we need to as much as possible, reassure the nation that we have the capability and the capacity to respond and respond in time when these sorts of things occur."

And while they stopped this one, police say the public must be aware that there are criminals who will take advantage of any opportunity.

ACP Russell Blackett
"We have the media - the international media that they look at. They have they web sites, things they read, and they sit at home and they have time to plan."

Police were deliberately vague on a number of issues, but we have learned that the vehicle was intercepted near the seaside in Corozal town. Additionally, credible information suggests that Police received information from someone in the kidnapping ring who had a change of heart.