Belize: New drugs routes by land and air; country on US “blacklist” for drug trafficking

After two recent plane crashes in the jungles Belize, one of which was found containing cocaine, it has become evident drug trafficking has become a problem for the country, La Prensa Grafica reports. For example, along the Northern Highway in the Orange Walk district, there is an airstrip built by the government in 1999, intended for tourist flights. Instead, narco-traffickers take advantage of the area to bring shipments into Belize from South America. The Washington Post reported in 2011 that Belize was added to the Obama administration’s blacklist of countries that act as drug producers or places of transit. Drugs travelling through Belize often make their way into the United States. U.S. authorities believe about 10 tons of cocaine are trafficked through Belize en route to U.S. consumers.Due to Belize’s jungle environment and lack of advanced security resources, it is difficult to detect or intercept drug paths by land or sea, the routes that are increasingly been utilized by traffickers in the country. Read Article