Briceño Addresses Airport Firearm Incident

Prime Minister John Briceño says he has no personal connection to the American oil investor who was briefly detained by police at the Philip Goldson International Airport after a firearm was discovered in his luggage. Reports indicate the investor arrived in Belize on a private jet for what were described as potential business discussions. Today, the Prime Minister told reporters he has never met or spoken with the individual, but says he would have been open to a meeting had there been a serious investment proposal on the table. He also explained what authorities were told happened at the airport, and how the matter was ultimately handled.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about more than what you have in the news. I have never met this gentleman. I have never spoken to him. But I am sure if he had come in and asked for an appointment to do a serious investment in Belize, I would have listened to him. But, what I have been told by the minister of police is that he had a license firearm from the united states and it seems that he did not know that you have to report it in Belize or he simply forgot. So what we did was confiscated the weapon and the bullets and we handed over to the U.S. Embassy and he was allowed to go home.”

 

The Prime Minister says the firearm was legally licensed in the U.S. but wasn’t declared upon arrival in Belize. Police confiscated the weapon and ammunition, handed them over to the U.S. Embassy, and the individual was allowed to return home.