Belizean security forces and US Joint Task Force-Bravo partnered during Operation CARACOL, a marijuana eradication mission led by Belizean intelligence forces in various sectors of Belize on 26-30 October 2015.[1][2] The Belize Defence Force Mobile Interdiction Team, Anti-Narcotics Unit, Belize Coast Guard and Belize Police Department joined US Army 1-228 Aviation Regiment personnel in the mission, commanded through the Belize Joint Intelligence and Operation Center at Price Barracks.[1] After US Army CH-47 Chinook and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters rendezvoused with the Belizean eradication teams, the Belizean participants received ladder training on entering and exiting the Chinooks before moving into the eradication phase.[1]
During the mission the forces destroyed more than 50,000 marijuana plants, with Chinook helicopters inserting Belizean teams into previously scouted marijuana fields and extracting them after the crops were destroyed.[1] A UH-60 helicopter remained on hand for medical evacuation cover while two CH-47 helicopters transported Belize Defence Force members to the fields.[1] The Joint Task Force-Bravo account likewise says the security forces destroyed over 50,000 marijuana plants with support from U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopters.[3]
The stated purpose was to build the US-Belize counter-drug partnership by putting Belizean forces in the lead in identifying possible marijuana farms, assessing their role in the regional drug trade and eliminating the fields they targeted.[1] Planning for the mission started months in advance, with intelligence agencies on both sides pooling information to prepare the eradication teams.[1] US planners described the intelligence-driven operation as significantly reducing illicit drugs produced in remote jungle areas of Belize.[1]
The Joint Intelligence Operation Center based at the Price Barracks compound planned the operation, which used helicopter support from the US Southern Command.[2] The Ministry of National Security said almost 51,000 marijuana plants were destroyed along with 300 pounds of compressed marijuana.[2] The destroyed marijuana was valued at approximately $61 million.[2]
