Belize and US forces destroy 57,283 marijuana plants in joint drive
Belizean forces with US Joint Task Force-Bravo destroyed 34 marijuana fields holding about 57,283 mature plants, valued at $29 million, in a joint eradication operation across Belize from 15 to 20 March 2014. The Americans provided helicopters, casualty-evacuation cover and caving-ladder training for 52 Belizean personnel.
Joint Task Force-Bravo and the US Embassy military liaison office in Belmopan joined Belizean military and police in a marijuana eradication operation across Belize from 15 to 20 March 2014.[1][2][3]The Belizean government destroyed 34 marijuana fields holding about 57,283 mature plants, with an initial estimated value of $29 million.[1][2][3]The teams also found and destroyed 25 pounds of marijuana seeds.[2][3]
The Americans provided aviation support, on-call casualty evacuation and caving-ladder training over land and water for the 52 Belizean personnel who took part.[1][2][3]US Army Captain Fernando Martinez, an Alpha Company commander with the 1-228th Aviation Regiment, described preparing landing zones for the helicopters that carried the ground teams.[2]
Photos and video
Smoke rises from a marijuana field burning during the joint eradication operation in Belize.Photo details
A police drone recon in a remote part of Toledo District found cannabis drying under a zinc-roofed structure in a corn field and a second cultivation site nearby. Officers uprooted and burned 86 plants, three to seven feet tall.
Belize Police Department officers destroyed a marijuana plantation in the Rhaburn Ridge area, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams said in September 2024. Neither the size of the plantation nor any arrests were reported, and the announcement came alongside cocaine operations in northern Belize.
Belize police found a plantation of 875 marijuana plants in Orange Walk District on the morning of 16 September 2024 and uprooted and burned the crop. No one was present at the site and no arrests were reported.
Belizean forces with US Joint Task Force-Bravo destroyed more than 50,000 marijuana plants across Belize during Operation CARACOL on 26-30 October 2015. US Army helicopters provided airlift, ladder training and medical-evacuation cover while Belizean teams identified and eliminated the fields.
