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LUIS CASTELLANOS

Eight guns and more than one hundred rounds of ammunition were stolen between Wednesday night and Friday morning in San Pedro. Usually when that happens it's time to call in the Police but here's the thing - the weapons and ammo were stolen from the Police Station. The missing items are the property of K.B.H. Security. The security company leaves its weapons at the Police Station for safe-keeping. Theoretically that's a sound practice that is encouraged by the department, but theory didn't hold true in this instance. Today, Commanding Officer Luis Castellanos told News Five that he is reasonably sure it was an inside job, and while it's a black eye for the Department, they will get to the bottom of it.

Via Phone: Supt. Luis Castellanos, O.C., San Pedro Police Formation

"There's a system here in San Pedro Police Station where the KBH Security leave their firearms here for safe-keeping. They have installed a metal box which measures about two feet and one foot in width. They secure it and they have their own keys. They remain with the keys. All we do is just confirm that they're bringing in the firearms and they're secured. This they did on Wednesday the thirtieth of April at about eight pm. They deposited the firearms. This morning at seven a.m. Mr. Daniel Tun, who is a supervisor for the KBH, visited the station to recover the firearms, and he realized that the firearms were missing. As a result of that we cross-checked and we noticed that yes, the eight firearms which are point thirty-eight calibre revolvers and one hundred and one rounds of ammunition was missing. I've launched an investigation. We're recording statements from the various Policemen, because as you know from Wednesday to now they have several shifts that have changed over, so we're questioning the Policemen who handed over and so we're investigating."

Mike Rudon

"Do you feel that the guns are still on the island, or that they've been taken off already?"

Via Phone: Supt. Luis Castellanos

"Well, we're still investigating, so I wouldn't be able to answer. It may well have left�you know San Pedro is very porous. You don't even have to go by regular boat, can take a boat and just leave the island, it's so porous. You can go through Maskall�you don't necessarily have to go through Belize City. You can go in an aircraft, so it would be hard for me to comment and to say if the firearms are still here in San Pedro. As a commander when you receive a report like this it is not something that you take lightly. It has cracked the integrity of the Department and you know the ill-repute. In all fairness not everybody would be involved, but the good pay for the bad too. It brings you down as a commander to know that this happened under your watch, and it should never have happened."

Channel 5


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Scary!

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Could get ugly.


A fish and a bird can fall in love, but where will they build their nest?

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Officer implicated in missing guns and ammunition from San Pedro Police Dept

Have Belize City Police recovered two of the eight stolen guns missing from the San Pedro Police Station? Reliable sources have indicated to The San Pedro Sun that they may have indeed found two firearms on Cemetery Road, Belize City. The firearms were reportedly in a lot behind Atlantic Bank, and have been identified as belonging to the cache that went missing between Wednesday evening and Friday morning from the San Pedro Police Station.

According to our sources, Police Constable #1332 Yannick Wade is one of the people detained. While our sources cannot confirm if PC Wade took the firearms, it is believed that he was involved in their disappearance as he was at the location where the firearms were found. PC Wade joined the San Pedro Police formation in April of 2013, after being transferred from the Criminal Investigation Branch in Belize City.

Officer in Charge of the San Pedro Police Department, Superintendent of Police Luis Castellanos refused to give an interview to The San Pedro Sun on May 2nd; however he told a Belize City media house that an investigation has been launched. Castellanos also believed that the firearms and ammunition were no longer on the island, as the island is "very porous". He indicated that this incident has cracked the integrity of the Department, and that when the culprits are found, they will be charged criminally.

Click here to read the rest of the article and see photos in the San Pedro Sun


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And these are who we are relying on to control crime on the island. Not a good sign for controlling crime on the island if they can't control crime in the police station. If it weren't so serious, it would be laughable.
I would hope the Town Board and the Business Community uses this example, among many others, to impress on the GOB the need for dramatic change and sufficient resources allocated to address this problem. Possibly the most serious problem effecting the future of AC.

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Yannick Wade

San Pedro Police Officer Charged for Missing Guns at Department
Eight guns and more than 100 rounds of ammunition were reported stolen on Friday, May 2, 2104, in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize. The weapons and ammunition belonging to the KBH Security Company are kept at the Police Station where the company has installed a metal box to keep safe their firearms. Luis Castellanos, Officer in charge of the San Pedro Police Department, launched and immediate investigation into the matter.

Officer Yannick Wade charged for theft of guns and ammunition
According to a report issued on Monday, May 05, 2014, Belize City police have arrested and charged one of their own for the offence of "two counts Kept Firearm without a Gun License and two counts of Kept Ammunition without a Gun License". Yannick Wade, 27-year-old Belizean Police Officer of Belize City, is also being charged for the crime of theft by San Pedro Police as they continue their investigations into the loss of eight (8) .38 revolvers and 101 .38 live rounds, property of KBH Security, and lost from the San Pedro Police Station. He was formerly attached to the San Pedro police precinct.


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I am not sure how many police officers there are in Belize. I know that the ones I have seen and interacted with on Ambergris Caye appear to be caring and professional. Unfortunately with people within our society there are always some who only care about themselves. This is also true for police officers. Hopefully this is the only one who is involved in this criminal act and he is properly punished for his actions. I also hope that the citizens support those officers who continue to serve the country and island. They serve the community in order to make it a better place to live and visit.

Yes, I have been a police officer here in the states or the past 27 years and I have seen too many criminals sneak through the cracks and use their positions to abuse the public. That is not acceptable to me or the thousands of officers who work for the people.

Ed

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Cop Accused Of Stealing Trove Of Weapons

On Friday morning at 7:00, San Pedro police discovered that eight - 38 revolvers and 101 live rounds of ammunition had been stolen from the police station. The guns had been stored there in a metal safe by KBH Security. But it turns out the lock on the safe wasn't working right - someone picked it and stole the gun. That "someone" was most likely a policeman - and most likely, the guns were going to be sold into the criminal underworld - and fast. So, police had to act swiftly to locate and apprehend the suspect - and in Belize City they zeroed in on police constable Yanick Wade. 12 Hours after the theft was discovered - Wade's house was the target of an intensive raid:

Sr. Supt Edward Broaster, 2nd O/C Eastern Division
"We view this as a serious breach of trust. We are the custodians of the community safety and security and when as police we are breaking and breaching that trust we take that very serious."

Jules Vasquez reporting
And that's why on Friday night at 7:00 pm, four police mobiles and about two dozen officers descended on this address at the corner of Johnson Street and Cemetery Road.

Constable Yanick Wade was escorted around his girlfriend's family home property in handcuffs. On this night he was the suspect.

He is believed to have left his post on San Pedro on Thursday morning - calling in sick and returning to the city. But police believe he came back with a stash of weapons.

Sr. Superintendents Alford Grinage and Edward Broaster led the recovery effort - and were working against time, searching low and high - all over the property for the stolen weapons where we learnt one of the officers reported sick and was nowhere to be found we had to ensure that we found him the crucial 12 hours we conducted surveillance eon him as a result of that surveillance we executed several searches one on his premises on Faber's road the secondary search - 2 of the firearms that were stolen from San Pedro.

Sr. Supt Edward Broaster, 2nd O/C Eastern Division
"We leant that one of the officers who were on duty at that time reported sick and was nowhere to be found. So we had to ensure that we found him and really the crucial hours for us, not 48 - the first 12 hours were very crucial for us and we knew we had to find him. We eventually did where we conducted surveillance on him. As a result of that surveillance we executed several searches, one on his premises at Faber's Road and the secondary search we conducted on Cemetery Road which led to the discovery of 2 of the firearms that was stolen from San Pedro."

"The first firearm was found tucked behind some old vehicle parts; car doors, bumpers and what have you and the second firearm was found in the ceiling tucked from behind the barber shop."

Police cross checked the serial numbers right on scene - and they were a match. Wade's pregnant girlfriend's entire family was taken to the station, including a small child and three women, and while he hung his head to avoid the camera - for this officer in handcuffs - criminal charges were automatic. But, while it was a very swift investigation - it's still wide open because 6 guns are unaccounted for: six more firearms is still outstanding this investigation is by no means diligent effort - other firearms form other players.

Sr. Supt Edward Broaster, 2nd O/C Eastern Division
"6 more firearms are still outstanding. This investigation is by no means concluded. We are as we speak still in diligent effort to try and recover other firearms from other players and hopefully we would be able to achieve that very shortly. For us it is crucial that we make every effort and left no stones upturn to ensure that we get those firearms back off the street."

Jules Vasquez
"Might there be other officers involved? Might there be known criminal involved?"

Sr. Supt Edward Broaster, 2nd O/C Eastern Division
"At this time I will not comment on that. There are some crucial leads that we are following as we speak. As I told you the investigation is ongoing and there may or may not be others involved in this matter."

And while the entire property was cordoned off and searches were conducted the next day - none of the other weapons was found here or anywhere else.

We note that while the guns were discovered missing on Friday morning, they were put in the safe on Wednesday night, so they could have disappeared anytime between Wednesday at 8:00 pm, and Friday morning at 7:00 am. We note that while Wade's entire extended family was detained, on the advice of the DPP, only he was charged.


Suspect Police Officer Jailed

And just before the closing of the Magistrate's Court this evening at 5 p.m., Yannick Wade was arraigned before the Chief Magistrate, Ann Marie Smith. He was charged with 8 counts of theft for the missing guns, and 1 count of theft for the 101 rounds of ammunition from KBH Security in San Pedro. Additionally, he was charged with 2 counts keeping an unlicensed firearm, for the 2 .38 revolvers found at his girlfreind's Cemetery Road home, and 2 counts of keeping unlicensed ammunition for the eight rounds of .38 ammunition found in that search. He was remanded until June 25. Of note is that that isn't Wade's first time to be arraigned on criminal charges. in July of 2011, Wade was charged with carnal knowledge of a 15 year-old girl, where it was alleged that he fathered the baby of minor.

Channel 7


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Accused Cop's Family Complains Of Setup

Last night, the big news was about police constable Yannick Wade, accused of masterminding the theft of 8 guns from the San Pedro police station. Wade is assigned to the san Pedro police station and called in sick on Thursday; the guns were discovered missing on Friday morning - but could have gone missing from Wednesday night.

Wade is in jail tonight because two of the guns were found on the premises of his girlfriend's house - where he is known to reside. He faces multiple charges of theft for the eight missing guns and for keeping an unlicensed firearm.

But while police seem to have a credible case against - what if it is all a setup? That's what his family is alleging. They spoke with Monica Bodden this afternoon:..

Mark Patnett - Father-In-Law of Wade
"I recall the police coming in and claiming that they are searching for weapons. Of course like I said before that I was confident that there was no weapon in my home. I am sure of that. Of course I accepted it and I cooperated one hundred percent with their search. However their search to me was inhumane because these people were taken out the clothing from the bags and throwing it on the floor and they were putting the bags on the bed. So I keep telling them about that and the more I tell them the more they do it. They walk on the clothing and then after they brought dogs who did the same. I mean that's inhumane isn't it?"

Shirley Bahador - Mother-In-Law of Wade
"It was shocking because the way the police came - Broaster, like he practically pushed Yannick into my house. He doesn't even say goodnight, does Yannick lives here or anything. He says to me "you know him?" and I said yes, he is my son-in-law. He doesn't ask if he lives or stay here or anything. He just came and say that he has guns here. I say gun and I started to laugh. He says what happen, don't you watch news and I said no because the babies came and they watch cartoon. We always have on cartoons. So he says that Yannick stole the gun from San Pedro. That was the first time I knew that guns was stolen from San Pedro."

Shirley Patnett - Fiance of Wade
"According to CIB, he said that I personally packed the guns in my suitcase and I carry the suitcase with guns in there, but I didn't do anything like that. I didn't even hold the bag, so if they knew that guns were in the suitcase why not stop us right there and search it? Why wait until we reaches here, spend the whole Friday and then come to do a search? I don't see the sense in that. But we came down because my son and Yannick was sick. From in the week he was complaining about his stomach. He had a stomach problem. He did eat the whole day Friday. As a matter of fact he didn't eat anything on Wednesday and Friday. I was forcing him to eat, so he was really sick."

Shirley Bahador - Mother-In-Law of Wade
"Well I want to start with my house first. To me it was total disrespect because Yannick Wade does not live in my home. I could if they came and barge into my house if he was living here, but he doesn't lives here. They all know that he lives in San Pedro. They should have done that in San Pedro. Why didn't they pick him up in San Pedro? San Pedro have police, they could have had the police pick him up in San Pedro before traveling all this way. Then again they say that he came in because he took the gun. I know that he came in because the baby was sick and he wasn't feeling well."

"The way they trash my house, I don't know how they will feel if it turn back on them one of these days and how they feel to do their own police officer that. I don't think you do any human being that what they did. They actually took the clean clothes out of the suitcases, dump out the clothes on the ground."

"I'll be honest with you. They didn't search my house one time, the first time they search my house it wasn't that bad. I explained to the man, I said these are my clean clothes, these are things that I have for my daughter when she delivers her baby - her things were already washed and prepared - tied up in plastic bags in suitcase. I lose out everything and they search it and replace it back and zip up the bag and thing. They came back again and they dug again without we inside there and they bring Yannick and my husband again and they dumped out everything on the floor. They threw the clothes on the floor and put the suitcase on the bed instead of throwing the suitcase on the bed and throw the suitcase on the ground - they threw the clothes on the ground. Then they make the dog trample all over the things, bite and chew up the things. My coffee creamer that I just bought is chew up and things like that. They just took things and throw and break up, it didn't matter to them. I have a barrel with glass stuff that I don't really used, they threw out the things and broke them up. They don't care. What if you do that to them? What is the prime minister thinking? Who are making these laws? How do they think people are supposed to vote for them with these laws? We supposed to vote for them to have them do this to us? You don't do people things like that. The way they trash my house - it's like there were many guns in here and it's like they were forcing the dogs. Each dog went into my house 3 times - that is 6 times those dogs trample in my clothes, my bed, my mattress and things. It's like the man is forcing the dog to find something. What will they find in there that is not there?"

"This is why people in Belize do what they do because in Belize they take advantage of poor people. They use poor people to say that they are doing thing and that for poor people, but the least chance they get they trample them down to the ground. Just like how they trample my clothes, the same way they trample we human being."

Mark Patnett - Father-In-Law of Wade
"Let me explain something, it was like 2 dozen policemen out here; 4 of them were in the house searching, so most naturally 20 were outside. When they were in there searching, I don't know what they were doing out here. When they said that they began their search they brought us out here, but no one notify us exactly when they found the weapon. When they found the weapon, they send for Scenes of Crime then they told us come, this is what we found."

"Of course I was like what, that surprised me. I didn't expect to see that and that's what transpired there. I can't even explain it, but we know that they are the law, we can only defend yourself by saying what we can say and that's what I am doing now."

Monica Bodden
"You think they could have come on Friday and handle the situation differently?"

Mark Patnett - Father-In-Law of Wade
"Of course, I use to conduct search in my time and we were completely different. We didn't trample upon people private possessions and break stuff that they treasured - that's terrible. They wouldn't like that do be done to them right?"

Shirley Bahador - Mother-In-Law of Wade
"I'll be honest to you. These are not slavery days anymore right? I want you to see the bathroom they have at the cell. They are already treating you like you are a criminal, they haven't found you guilty yet you know, but they are already treating you like you are nothing. Even if you murder somebody, you don't know what is the situation, I don't think you treat nobody that kind of way. The bathrooms are stink and so I look at them and tell them that we can't use that bathroom. They ask if we wanted to eat. How can you eat and drink? All the food stay there and spoil because how will you eat and where will you use bathroom - that bathroom is not in any way for you to eat. Then there in only cement. There is no chair nor bed for you to relax. Even when you go to jail, they treat you better because you have bed to lie down, but there, you don't treat people like that because you don't know if people are guilty. So where are our rights? Where is our humanity?"

Shirley Patnett - Fiance of Wade
"I spent the Friday night in the cell."

Monica Bodden
"Could you even describe that to me?"

Shirley Patnett - Fiance of Wade
"It was rough. I stood most of the night apart from when I was sitting on my mother's lap because I had on this thin dress, like a night gown dress because I was already in my bed. From the night I was experiencing pain, so I was in the bed when they came and when they took us to the station I was locked up in the cell. I told one of the female police office that I couldn't use that bathroom because I don't want to catch any infection. She told me that she did nursing for a while and you cannot catch an infection like that. So I spent the whole night in there, I had back pain, my back is swell, my feet was swollen. The Saturday they took me to the hospital because I began to spot. I was passing blood and so they took me to the hospital and the doctor advice that I should be resting, I should be comfortable. So they took me out of the cell and put me in the room."

Wade is on remand until June 25th and his family told us that Audrey Matura Shepherd is their attorney.

Channel 7


Cop remanded on slew of gun-related charges

Yannick Wade, 27, police constable # 1332, is on remand at the Hattieville Prison after he was denied bail for a slew of gun-related offences.

This follows the discovery, according to police, of two stolen guns in the general area where his 16-year old girlfriend and her family reside, at the corner of Johnson Street and Cemetery Road in Belize City.

The Reporter has learned that Wade was one of four policemen who were on duty at the San Pedro Police Station last Wednesday between of one and 7 a.m., but he remained at the station while the other three went on patrol duties in the town.

The guns, which are the property of KBH security, are kept locked along with a log book in a metal chest inside the police station.

One of Wade's colleagues, Police Constable Juan Cho, received the weapons on Wednesday night when the KBH guard took them for storage and Cho, reports indicate, supervised the deposit of the weapons inside the chest and signed the log book along with the KBH guard who delivered them.

The guard then locked the weapons, ammunition and log book inside the chest and left the station.

On Thursday (Labour Day) when KBH guards, in their routine line of duty, went to the station to retrieve the weapons they noticed that eight .38 calibre revolvers and 101 bullets were missing.

The padlock that secured the chest was still in tact and locked, leading investigators to believe that whoever stole the weapons picked the lock open and re-locked it when they were finished.

Investigators began to suspect Wade because he called in sick that Thursday claiming that he and his young son had to seek medical attention for food poisoning. He took his approved time-off to travel to Belize City that day where police believe he began to arrange for the sale of the stolen weapons. When police showed up at his girlfriend's family home on Friday night, they discovered two of the guns - one tucked among old scraps in the yard and another in the ceiling of a neighbouring barber shop.

Information reaching this newspaper says that police are working to track down the remaining missing guns, which investigators believe are already in the hands of members of a particular street gang.

Attorney Audrey Matura-Shepherd, who spoke with reporters following the search at the residence, criticised the way police detained the family members unnecessarily for 48 hours before releasing them.

This, she said, created some health issues for Wade's pregnant girlfriend. She also pointed to the fact that the locations where police discovered the weapons were open spaces accessible to anyone.

When Wade appeared in court almost at the close of the workday on Monday, he pleaded not guilty to nine counts of theft of firearm, two counts of keeping guns without a license and two counts of keeping ammunition without a license.

Chief Magistrate Ann Marie Smith remanded him to prison until June 5th.

Wade beat a criminal charge of carnal knowledge in the past.

At the time of his arrest, he had been working at the San Pedro Police Station for a little over one year.

The Reporter


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Yannick Wade, remanded for missing guns in San Pedro, gets bail

Police Constable Yannick Wade is out on bail. Today, his attorney, Audrey Matura-Shepherd applied for Supreme Court bail for Wade, who has been on remand since May fifth for charges relating to stolen KBH guns and ammunition from the San Pedro Police Station. When he appeared before Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith earlier this month, Wade was arraigned for thirteen criminal charges-nine counts of Theft for allegedly dishonestly appropriating eight point thirty-eight revolvers and one hundred and one rounds of ammunition of the same calibre and two counts each for Kept Firearm without a Gun License and Kept Ammunitions without a License. The weapons reportedly went missing between April thirtieth and May second from the San Pedro Police Station and Wade, who was attached to that precinct, was nabbed as he visited with relatives in the city. Although he successfully received bail this morning, Matura-Shepherd says that his release is bittersweet.

Audrey Matura-Shepherd, Attorney for Yannick Wade

"Today we were able to get bail from the Supreme Court. You know the gun legislation says it is only through the Supreme Court. I hope that we get that legislation changed; it is really unjust what has happened. However, although we have bail now-that's the good news. And there is another good news, he is coming out in time to witness the birth of his second child. His wife's due date is this Sunday and you know that that's one of the things that you try and keep family together. On the downside is that up to today, despite all my calls, the family of his wife has not gotten their phones back, five cell phones. I have called Mister Blackett, who is in charge of CIB; I've called Mister Broaster, who the family says he is the one who took away the phone; I've called Mister Grinage, who is also one of the persons involved in this investigation. And no results; they pretend as though they don't even know where the phone is. So that is one of the things that okay you want to investigate, please return the property to the people; they didn't even give them a receipt. While we will be dealing with the criminal aspect of this, we are left with no other choice but now to make a report and the police will have to investigate themselves for theft because that's what it amounts to; you have deprived a person of their property. We have the constitution that prevents, or should prevent, all that kind of abuse. But either out of ignorance of the constitution or out of malice, certain things are done by different people in the police department-but I can’t say it is everybody, key people. Then to compound the situation, this gun law that we have, they use it as the ammunition that they need to go after people that when they want to break you down, they break you down. Now I keep saying to the police, investigate your cases properly; you have the evidence, charge the person and so. But man, why pressure the whole family? You don't have charges against them. I tell you sometimes by the end of the day, by the time the trial comes, even though you get a not-guilty verdict, you've suffered at their hands already. You don't even have to go to prison to be punished. The whole family and now it's like a stigma that goes with it. So I think it is unjust."

Channel 5



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