In a series of coordinated anti-weapons operations carried out across Belize in mid-May 2026, law enforcement officials have taken three individuals into custody and seized an unlicensed cache of firearms and live ammunition, marking a notable advance in the country’s ongoing crackdown on illegal weapons trafficking.
The first interception unfolded on the morning of May 15, 2026, at approximately 8:30 a.m. in Belmopan City, when officers from the Belize Police Department pulled over a vehicle carrying two young men. A subsequent search of the vehicle uncovered a hidden illegal weapons stash: a 9mm Beretta pistol, 28 live rounds of 7.62-caliber ammunition, 15 live rounds of .2-caliber ammunition, and 8 additional live rounds of 9mm ammunition, according to Assistant Superintendent of Police Stacy Smith, a staff officer with the department.
Following the seizure, 23-year-old Kamron Adolphus of Burrel Boom Village and 20-year-old Vaughn Culzac of Roaring Creek Village were arrested and jointly charged with three violations of Belize’s firearms laws: possession of an unlicensed firearm, possession of unlicensed ammunition, and possession of prohibited ammunition. As the case progresses, Adolphus has entered a guilty plea, while Culzac has maintained his not guilty plea. Both men have been remanded to the Belize Central Prison, with Adolphus awaiting sentencing and Culzac awaiting his next court appearance.
When pressed by reporters on how illegal weapons continue to enter Belize despite repeated crackdowns, Smith pointed to the country’s porous borders as a primary entry point for traffickers. “We know the border, the porous border, serves as one of those areas that illegal firearms are brought in. We saw the instance where one person sought to import a number of firearms, but thankfully the check that happens at customs, that was intercepted. We continue our efforts on our part to try to conduct operations along the border lines and those porous areas with a view to deterring these types of activities. The mobile interdiction team is one unit that is particularly tasked with such a mandate,” Smith explained.
Shortly after the Belmopan intercept, a separate court-sanctioned operation carried out by the department’s specialized Gang Intelligence Investigation and Interdiction Unit (GI3) at a Belize City residence led to a second illegal weapons seizure. During the search of 34-year-old Thomas Ferguson’s home on Electric Avenue, officers found a black 9mm pistol loaded with 15 live rounds of 9mm ammunition. Ferguson was immediately arrested and charged with two counts of unlicensed weapons and ammunition possession.
Belize police officials confirmed that both recent arrests are the direct outcome of the department’s stepped-up anti-illegal weapons campaign, which has seen specialized units ramp up targeted patrols, intelligence gathering, and surveillance operations across the country. The department says it will continue to invest resources into these operations to disrupt trafficking networks and remove unlicensed firearms from communities. This report is a transcribed excerpt from an evening television newscast, originally published online.