Police have detained two suspects and have also recovered the vehicle that was believed to have been used in the ruthless armed robbery at the Scotia Bank branch in Spanish Lookout yesterday morning. Police have not released the names of those persons – but they have disclosed the names of two wanted persons and they are both from San Pedro Town. They are 26 year old Alexander Edwards and 24 year old Gabriel Salazar. Police stress that these men are considered armed and dangerous – anyone seeing them should call 0-800-922-TIPS, or the nearest police station.

Police have also disclosed the scale of the bank robbery and it is – again – unprecedented; as the robbers made off with $300,000 from the vault!

Here’s how it happened. Police say that the white Suzuki Sidekick pulled up at the bank and three armed masked men got out; one of them immediately pulled out a single action shotgun and killed 32 year old unarmed security guard Steven Lopez. Two of the gunmen strode into the bank and demanded money while another put a gun to the head of the other security guard Theodoro Dano and forced him inside. The gunmen took the manager and employees to the vault where the robbers helped themselves to $300,000 in different denominations, all in Belize currency.

They finished up and on their way out, Lizburn Andrews was just driving into the bank’s compound to make a deposit and they robbed him of $10,000 and drove off towards the Los Tambos Area. Police found the Suzuki and the two un-named suspects in the area of Valley of Peace Village.

Alexander Edwards who is one of the wanted men was in the news in February of last year when he was wanted for the murder of two persons in a drug related execution on northern Ambergris Caye. Again anyone seeing him or Gabriel Salazar is asked to call police as both men are considered armed and dangerous.

Channel 7