Belize: Organized Crime and Insecurity, Hezbollah links

thedialogue.org – Author, Julie Lopez
In September 2012, Belize made international headlines,
as it rarely does. The country’s name surfaced when Rafiq
Mohammed Labboun Allaboun, allegedly a Lebanese terrorist
associated with Hezbollah, was arrested in Mexico. He
held a Belizean passport, driver’s license, and birth certificate
in the name of a person who died in 1976. All of the documents
were issued by Belizean authorities.
The case cast a shadow of corruption over the country. It
also led to the discovery that Belize had issued passports to
two other Lebanese nationals linked to Hezbollah, as well as
illicit activities such as drug and arms trafficking and migrant
smuggling. In 2008, the US embassy in Belmopan had released
a cable revealing older links between individuals in Belize and
the Lebanese Hezbollah.
These events highlighted an undercurrent of corruption,
organized crime, and even potential terrorist connections in
Belize; however, they do not reflect the full panorama of violence
in the country, which is on par with that of its crime ridden
Central American neighbors. That, instead, requires
scouring the headlines of the local…… Read PDF