A disturbing gap in internal controls at Belize’s national law enforcement agency has sparked public scrutiny this week, after an internal audit uncovered that $21,000 in cash tied to a 2023 criminal investigation has gone missing from the secured evidence room of the Crimes Investigation Branch (CIB) in Belmopan.
The missing funds, which were seized as evidence during the 2023 case, were not noted as removed in any official log, bear no authorization signatures, and leave no documentary trail that could point to when the money disappeared or who may have accessed it. While the missing cash was only formally confirmed during this week’s routine internal audit, law enforcement officials acknowledge the disappearance was first flagged earlier this year.
This incident is not an isolated failure: it marks the latest in a growing series of troubling cases involving lost or mismanaged evidence held by Belize’s police department, leaving public trust in the force frayed and placing senior leadership under mounting pressure to account for the security breakdown. In an official statement responding to questions about the disappearance, Assistant Superintendent of Police Stacy Smith, a staff officer with the department, confirmed the gap in accounting and confirmed that an active investigation is now underway.
“For this inquiry, I can confirm that as part of the routine auditing process at CIB, we discovered that a sum of money was unaccounted for, and this is now an ongoing investigation,” Smith told reporters. “The Professional Standards Branch is currently reviewing the matter, and a number of witness statements have already been recorded as the probe moves forward.”
When pressed for details on the exact date the discrepancy was first identified, Smith confirmed the missing funds were first spotted earlier in 2026, adding that the cash itself was seized during investigative activity linked to the 2023 court case. Smith added that the department will release additional, updated information to the public as the investigation progresses, once new details are confirmed.
This report, adapted from a transcript of an evening television news broadcast, is the latest development in a series of accountability challenges facing Belize’s law enforcement institutions, with observers calling for enhanced oversight of evidence storage protocols to prevent future losses of critical case materials.