San Pedro Police, under the supervision of a Justice of the Peace and other relevant authorities, are carrying out the destruction of confiscated Illegal Drugs. The process is being witnessed by members of the media and is carried out routinely throughout the country.







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

San Pedro Police Destroys 100 Kilos of Drugs

The San Pedro Police Formation today carried out a drug destruction exercise on the island.  More than a hundred kilos of several types of drugs were destroyed by fire.  The commanding officer, Superintendent Christopher Noble says that the exercise will be an annual event.  News Five’s Hipolito Novelo was on Ambergris Caye where he along with other officials witnessed the destruction.

Hipolito Novelo, Reporting

A quantity of illegal drugs, including cocaine, marijuana, and pills, was destroyed today by San Pedro police. Over one hundred kilos of drugswere transported from the police station to a secure location south of San Pedro Town. Armed police officers secured the route. Commander of the Coastal Executive Unit Superintendent Christopher Noble says that some of the drugs have been in storage for a few years. He says that the contents destroyed today were those obtain through “found property” searches and cases that the court has dealt with.

Supt. Christopher Noble, Commander, Coastal Executive Unit

“Concluded cases, found property, that wound be from for different searches where one nobody was arrested. And two, concluded where cases have been concluded in the courts.”

Reporter

“How long you guys in San Pedro have been accumulating this particular quantity?”

Supt. Christopher Noble

“This quantity you would say over the last two to three years because the case that been recently concluded some are three and four years old.”

Hipolito Novelo

“And that includes drugs obtained in Caye Caulker as well?”

Supt. Christopher Noble

“Yes it is the coastal area.”

And the coastal waters of Belize have always been used as part of the transnational drug trade within the region. Noble says that the northern section of Ambergris Caye remains a concern.

Supt. Christopher Noble

“Northern is always a concern, as is the entire island.”

Reporter

“For this particular quantity are you seeing a decrease in the amount of drugs that is passing through the island?”

Supt. Christopher Noble

“I wouldn’t say a decrease because we won’t be able see what actually passes. What we have is what have been held by us in our operations, information gathering or intelligence led policing.”

Hipolito Novelo

“Okay sir, we are talking about marijuana, cocaine, any other unusual type of…”

Supt. Christopher Noble

“Some are tablets and other illicit items.”

Noble oversaw the destruction of the illicit items. As did other officials, including a magistrate and a Justice of the Peace. The destruction of the drugs took more than two and a half hours after each and every type of drug was recorded before being thrown into the fire.

Supt. Christopher Noble

“The process is that you first gather a listing, we get is approve. It takes a bit and after we get the listing approved. Then we get the local magistrate. The commander of the prosecuting section, the national forensic science service, a local justice of the peace to ensure that we go through the process. What is destroyed is what you see there.”

Channel 5

---

San Pedro Police Burn Drugs

And while crime is wild in the city - not so much in San Pedro - which has seen a sharp drop in violent crime over the last 17 months.

But, that doesn't mean police haven't been busy - and today they proved that by destroying three years worth of confiscated drugs. The Coast Executive Officer invited the press to observe as a second layer of transparency, and 7News attended. Daniel Ortiz has that story:

Just before midday, San Pedro Police began to burn all the drugs that they had confiscated over the last 3 years or so on both islands of San Pedro and Caye Caulker.

It is the second mass quantity destruction that has been done under the leadership of Superintendent Chris Noble.

Reporter
"What is the approximate quantity that you guys are burning today?"

Superintendent Chris Noble - Coastal Executive Officer
"[It's] a bit over a hundred kilos total drugs."

Reporter
"Tell us about the origin of these items."

Superintendent Chris Noble
"Concluded cases, found property, that would be from our different searches where, 1, nobody was arrested, and then there are cases that were concluded in the courts."

Reporter
"How long have you guys here in San Pedro been accumulating this quantity?"

Superintendent Chris Noble
"This quantity, you would say over the last 2 to 3 years because the cases that have recently been concluded, some are 3 and 4 years old."

Reporter
"So, we're talking about marijuana, cocaine, and any other unusual..."

Superintendent Chris Noble
"Some are tablets and other illicit items. I believe we've had maybe one that is upwards of 3 kilos and the person was convicted on the same day she was detained."

The most efficient way to burn them would be to just dump the entire pile of drugs on the bonfire. But, each quantity of drugs has a different case number. So, there is a careful reconciliation process that must be done to account for every gram.

Superintendent Chris Noble
"The process is that you first gather a listing. We get it approved. It takes a bit, and after we get the listing approved, then we get the local magistrate, the commander of the prosecuting section, the National Forensic Science Service, [and] a local justice of the peace to ensure that we go through the process, and what is destroyed is what you see there."

That process might be tedious, but for the law enforcement personnell, transparency is key for the general public that they serve.

Superintendent Chris Noble
"As the Minister said in an interview recently, community policing is the way to go. We have been a part of this community. We serve this community, and we intend for this community to trust us with guarding them. Our mandate is the protection of life and property. So, that is where we go."

Reporter
"How long do you guys estimate it will take to completely destroy those 100+ kilos?"

Superintendent Chris Noble
"Anywhere upwards of 2 and a half hours."

Noble tells us that he hopes to conduct these drug burnings as frequently as is possible.

Channel 7