THE FREE ZONE FILES

By Omar Silva |Editor/Publisher

National Perspective Belize I Investigative Desk

www.nationalperspectivebz.com

Belize City: Wednesday 19th November 2025

NATIONAL PERSPECTCTIVE BELIZE – SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE EDITION

I. INTRODUCTION: The Breaking Point Belizeans Can No Longer Ignore

For years, Belizeans whispered about the Corozal Free Zone.

About the strange faces.

About the shell companies.

About the vans with no plates.

About the sudden wealth and the unexplained violence.

But in 2025, the whispers became reporting.

The reporting became confirmation.

And confirmation became crisis.

Now, the sudden political implosion of José Abelardo Mai, the attempted assassination of a well-known Free Zone businessman connected to the Prime Minister’s own family, and the Caborca Cartel’s brazen use of Belizean territory have triggered the most serious governance scandal in modern Belizean history.

For the first time, Belizeans must confront a painful truth:

The Corozal Free Zone is not “just a trade zone.”

It has become a contested corridor of cartel operations, political protection, business laundering, and cross-border warfare — all while the Government of Belize downplays the danger.

This is the story the government refuses to tell.

This is the truth NP Belize will tell.

II. THE MAI COLLAPSE: A RESIGNATION THAT REFUSES TO BE BELIEVED

On November 18, the Prime Minister attempted to rewrite reality.

He told the nation that former Minister of Agriculture José Abelardo Mai was not facing political pressure, was not under scrutiny, and was not implicated in any suspicion regarding the Free Zone.

No — he simply had “a bad back” from a horse fall over a year ago.

• That was the explanation.
• That was the story.
• That was the insult.

Belizeans immediately recognized the absurdity.

The timeline alone destroys the narrative:

1. Mai’s injury is over one year old.

But it became an “emergency” only after the Mexican cartel reporting.

2. Mai lost the Free Zone portfolio first.

If health was the issue, why not remove Agriculture too?

3. The PM met the U.S. Embassy on November 14.

That meeting was specifically about national security concerns.

4. Mai resigned on November 18.

Just four days after the meeting.

5. Senior government officials confirmed it was NOT a leave of absence — it was a resignation.

Yet the PM insists on a “leave.”

6. The Free Zone was already under intelligence red flags.

This is the point the Prime Minister desperately avoids.

The nation does not believe the bad back story —

because it is not believable.

**III. THE MEXICAN REVELATIONS:

CABORCA CARTEL OPERATING INSIDE BELIZEAN TERRITORY**

Mexican investigative outlets exposed what Belizean authorities refused to acknowledge:

Caborca Cartel operatives use Belize’s Corozal Free Zone as a refuge whenever pressure rises in Mexico.

The specifics include:

✔ Criminal operatives cross into Belize through Santa Elena/Subteniente López

✔ They take shelter inside the Las Vegas Hotel, fully inside Belizean territory

✔ They maintain rooms, contacts, and safe movement

✔ Mexican forces cannot arrest them once they cross into Belize

✔ Belizean authorities have taken no meaningful action

The reports named:

Valerio “Monkey” Bustillos, the cartel’s commander in the region

The Caborca faction war spilling directly into Belize

The role of Belizean business intermediaries

Political figures used for “protection agreements”

The cross-border corruption around Supply Control permits

The cartel presence is not theoretical.

They were physically there.

Many still are.

**IV. THE HIT ON NITTIN BUXANI:

THE MOMENT THE CRISIS BECAME PERSONAL FOR THE PRIME MINISTER**

On November 5th, a gunman attempted to execute ( El Indu) , Nitin Buxani, a businessman with long-standing operations inside the Free Zone and the common-law husband of the Prime Minister’s cousin.

He was hit eleven times.

This was not a robbery.

This was not a warning shot.

This was not a random crime.

This was an execution attempt, tied to:

• Free Zone business disputes
• Permit battles
• Cross-border criminal networks
• And the Caborca struggle for dominance

The Prime Minister’s own extended family was touched by the violence.

The national leader might deny political pressure,

but his own security apparatus did not.

After the Buxani attack, the PM’s convoy was increased:

More officers

More vehicles

Higher alert level

Cabinet Secretary ordered enhanced protection

Briceño denies fear.

But his security contradicts him.

Belizeans know what that means.

V. LOS DRAGONES AND THE CARTEL THREATS

This is perhaps the most alarming element, the one the PM refuses to mention once.

fter Belize’s elite unit Los Dragones intercepted a cartel shipment linked to Valerio Bustillos:

Caborca members issued a death threat against Belizean officers

and

Belize’s security forces quietly activated a red alert.

Meaning:

Our own tactical officers were targeted for assassination

Security posture had to be elevated

Cross-border intelligence units were mobilized

The threat level inside Belize increased

Yet the Prime Minister speaks only of “back pain.”

**VI. THE SUPPLIES CONTROL STRUGGLE:

THE HEART OF THE HUSTLE**

Multiple high-level sources confirmed what Belizeans already suspected:

Supply Control is one of the most abused, monetized government offices in Belize.

Why?

Because:

Import permits

Fuel authorizations

Bulk commodity approvals

Free Zone allowances

…are worth millions.

And within the Free Zone, those approvals become tools for:

Cartel logistics

Contraband coordination

Deep corruption

Political financing

Access-for-payment systems

The PM tried to deny Mai was fighting to keep Supplies Control.

But the evidence says otherwise:

This department is a treasure chest for anyone who controls it.

Mai tried to keep it.

He lost it.

He resigned days later.

**VII. THE U.S. EMBASSY FACTOR:

THE TRUTH BELIZEANS WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO HEAR**

According to senior government sources — including those within the party —

the U.S. Embassy:

Raised concerns

Raised intelligence data

Raised red flags

Questioned Free Zone operations

Asked about cartel infiltration

The PM denies it publicly.

But denial is not proof.

Diplomacy operates in:

“Quiet words”

“Signals”

“Strong recommendations”

“Expectations”

A Prime Minister cannot say:

“Yes, Washington pressured me.”

So he says:

“It’s all a back injury.”

VIII. THE CABINET IN FREE-FALL

In just two years, Briceño has lost:

Magali Marin

Eamon Courtenay

Chris Coye

Jose Abelardo Mai

Two Ministers who refused reassignment

A Cabinet reshuffled twice in one week

This is not reconfiguration.

This is collapse.

The PM claims everything is “stable.”

But his Cabinet says otherwise.

**IX. THE FREE ZONE’S TRUE NATURE:

NOT A COMMERCIAL HUB — A CARTEL CORRIDOR**

Belizeans must understand what the Corozal Free Zone has become:

❌ Not a tourist center

❌ Not a trade engine

❌ Not a harmless shopping district

It has become:

✔ A safe haven for organized crime

✔ A laundering basin

✔ A contraband command center

✔ A jurisdictional loophole

✔ A narco transit stop

✔ A political financing vault

✔ A border no-man’s-land

The Free Zone functions under a perfect storm:

Zero criminal extradition

Weak regulatory oversight

Political interference

High-value cash flow

Cross-border escape routes

Mexican criminal spillover

It is everything cartels need —

and everything Belize refuses to reform.

**X. THE BIG QUESTION:

WHY IS THE PRIME MINISTER COVERING FOR THIS?**

This is where everything connects.

Why:

Downplay the U.S. concerns?

Hide the threats against Los Dragones?

Ignore the Mexican reporting?

Pretend Mai’s removal is “back pain”?

Deny the Free Zone crisis?

Increase personal security but deny fear?

Because acknowledging the truth means acknowledging that:

Belize’s northern border is compromised.

The Free Zone is infiltrated.

Cartels have leverage.

Political networks are exposed.

And a Cabinet Minister fell because of it.

The PM is not protecting Belize.

He is protecting his government’s image —

and possibly his party’s internal secrets.

 

**XI. CONCLUSION:

BELIZE MUST NOT REMAIN BLIND ANYMORE**

The time for polite denials is over.

The time for excuses is over.

The time for bad storytelling is over.

The Corozal Free Zone crisis is real.

The cartel penetration is real.

The Mai collapse is real.

The U.S. concern is real.

The Buxani hit is real.

The cabinet fractures are real.

The Prime Minister’s fear is real.

The only thing that is not real

is the government’s explanation.

Belize must confront the truth —

Our Free Zone has become a battlefield.

Our politics have become compromised.

And our leadership is scrambling to hide what the region already knows.

The Belizean people deserve better.

And they deserve the truth.

NP Belize will continue exposing it.