…CABORCA CORRUPTS BELIZEAN AUTHORITIES❗❗

By: Omar Silva I Editor/Publisher

National Perspective Belize I Digital 2025

www.nationalperspectivebz.com

Belize City: Thursday 2nd October 2025: Belize’s northern and western borders—long sold to the public as gateways for legitimate trade—are now under a cloud of suspicion darker than ever before. A bombshell investigative report from Noticias Zona Sur de Quintana Roo alleges that the Caborca Cartel, one of Mexico’s notorious trafficking organizations, has already entrenched itself in Belize’s Commercial Free Zones. And at the centre of the storm is a sitting Cabinet Minister in John Briceño’s government: José Abelardo Mai, the Minister of Agriculture, who also holds direct responsibility for the Free Zones.

From Chetumal’s Murders to Belize’s Cabinet Doorstep

For residents of Chetumal, the daily tally of killings and disappearances is nothing new. But according to the report, the Caborca network—rattled by the murder of its previous border operator on September 5th—has extended its reach across Belize’s borders. Their alleged rescuer? A Belizean minister with “urgent financial need” who could guarantee operations would continue “as if nothing happened.”

The Mexican report names Minister Mai, accusing him of accepting cartel overtures. In exchange, Mai allegedly promised two things:

• Insider intelligence on “who is who” in the Free Zone to facilitate cartel control, and
• A warehouse inside the zone to monitor and move contraband more effectively.

A Minister with a Dark Record

For Belizeans, the accusations against Mai may sound shocking—but not unfamiliar. The report notes his prior entanglements with criminal networks in Guatemala, including cigarette smuggling operations backed by business elites who financed political campaigns. His name surfaced again in connection with the infamous Budna case.

The allegation is not that Mai acted alone, but that Belize’s institutional weakness has made the Free Zones an open hunting ground. A well-known figure, Armando Nicolli, described as a “friend-betrayer” by the Mexican outlet, allegedly helped orchestrate the handover of cartel control in the Free Zone after clashes over smuggling routes into Cancún.

A Cabinet That Cannot Pretend Ignorance

These are not whispers. They are printed accusations in black and white across Mexico’s southern press, naming not only the Caborca Cartel but a sitting Belizean minister. This is no longer rumour—it is a charge in the public domain that Belizean authorities cannot ignore.

But silence is exactly what the Briceño government has perfected. Instead of transparency, the public is spoon-fed propaganda while the Free Zones—Belize’s supposed engines of commerce—become playgrounds for organized crime.

A Narco-State by Another Name?

The Mexican report draws a chilling parallel: Belize may be copying the worst of Latin America’s recent history—“narco-government.” With the DEA watching closely, and the evidence trail stretching from Chetumal’s blood-soaked streets to the boardrooms of Belize’s Free Zones, the Briceño administration must answer:

• What did Minister Mai know, and when did he know it?
• How much of Belize’s trade ecosystem is already compromised by cartel influence?
• And is the Cabinet prepared to defend the nation’s sovereignty, or sell it to the highest criminal bidder?

For too long, Belizeans have tolerated the extractive political class enriching itself at the nation’s expense. Now, the stakes are higher. If the allegations are true, Belize is not just governed by corruption—it is being governed into the shadows of narco-politics.

The Caborca story has only just begun. Belizeans deserve to know if their Free Zones are commerce centres—or cartel corridors sanctioned at the ministerial level.