Central Farm Vehicle Heist Foiled by Remote Shutdown

We start tonight with a brazen heist at the Ministry of Agriculture’s compound in Central Farm. Early this morning, seven masked men stormed through the front gate, tied up the security guard, and snatched the keys to four government pickup trucks. Their plan was to drive straight to the western border and disappear into Guatemala. But things didn’t go accordingly. The security guard managed to free himself and alert his superiors. Within minutes, the ministry ordered the vehicles to be tracked and shut down remotely. And just like that, the thieves were forced to abandon all four trucks before crossing the border. But was this all an inside job? Reports say the culprits spoke Creole. Minister of Agriculture Rodwell Ferguson weighed in on the situation. Here’s what he had to say.

 

On the Phone: Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of Agriculture

“We understand the theft happened about three a.m. this morning. What they did, they tied up the security and then took the key for the vehicles from the security booth, because the keys were placed there in the evening. And apparently they moved towards the Western Border. But, because they have a system in place, our FO was told right away that the vehicles were stolen. Right away she got on the phone with the police department, and they were able to shut down the vehicle as they practically reached the border. Now there is this detection of the vehicles and the vehicles shut down so the thieves had to abandon the vehicles. So I want to thank the department responsible and Mr. Ashton Longsworth for making sure all these vehicles are properly detected by the government of Belize.”

 

Paul Lopez

“Where were the vehicles recovered.”

 

On the Phone: Rodwell Ferguson

“I think three recovered close to Arenal and one close to Benque. It was three Toyotas and one Nissan pickup.”

 

Paul Lopez

“Who do we suspect carried out this crime?”

 

On the Phone: Rodwell Ferguson

“At this moment, we can’t determine because we are in meetings, but hopefully by the end of the day we have a better response when it comes to that.”

 

Paul Lopez

“How much do you suspect this to be an inside job.”

 

On the Phone: Rodwell Ferguson

“That is also a thought, but I don’t want to speculate until we have more information to determine whether it is an inside job or an outside job. The thieves were very brazen because we have security cameras at the location and the watchman said it was a total about seven people. It was a huge amount. So we have to be cautious about what is happening, but enough security cameras are on the compound.”

 

Paul Lopez

“Do we suspect that these could be individuals from across the border from across the border, because they were going across the border.”

 

On the Phone: Rodwell Ferguson

“We do suspect that these individuals have connection across the border. We also alerted Guatemala incase they crossed the border, but what security is saying is that they speak creole. So, they are locals.”