Fear is rippling through Lord’s Bank Village tonight following a sizeable weed bust on Wednesday. Right inside a residential property, investigators uncovered more than one thousand, one hundred pounds of marijuana, valued at over one point six million dollars, shocking residents who say they never imagined something of that scale was operating in their community. The sheer size of the seizure has now sparked unease, with villagers worried about possible retaliation or spillover violence. Those fears are heightened as police continue probing a troubling string of murders in the Ladyville and Lord’s Bank areas, cases authorities believe may be tied to the drug trade. For many residents, the bust has raised painful questions about who was involved and what dangers could still be lurking. News Five’s Shane Williams reports tonight from a community on edge, where shock has quickly turned into anxiety about what comes next.
Shane Williams Reporting…
The scale of Wednesday’s bust has stunned residents of Lord’s Bank Village, including Chairman Daniel Salinas, who says nothing like this was ever expected in his community.
On The Phone: Daniel Salinas, Chairman, Lord’s Bank Village
“I was quite surprised with the amount of drugs that was found in the village. I didn’t expect those quantity of marijuana to be in the village. I know there’s a lot of. Young guys that uses the drug, but not to the quantity that was found yesterday. I guess a lot of villagers as were surprised as me people were in the village, were talking about it, I went to the shop and people brought it up to me also. So I’m as quite surprised as them.”
Darwin Valerio
What makes the discovery even more unsettling is where it happened. The house used to store the drugs sits directly behind the Belize Water Services compound, the same location where security guard Darwin Valerio was murdered earlier this year. That proximity is now raising fresh questions about whether the killing and the massive drug operation are connected. At the time of Valerio’s death, Assistant Superintendent Stacy Smith confirmed that police were already examining the murder as part of a wider pattern of violent crimes in the area.
Stacy Smith
ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer (File: February 2, 2026)
“There is a suggestion that is an area that is being explored and certainly as I’ve stated, these incidents, all three, including that of Mr. Valerio and that of Mr. Bainton and Ferguson are being investigated to ascertain whether there’s an nexus between these incidents.”
With tensions already high, Salinas says concern about violence is real but so is the community’s vigilance.
On The Phone: Daniel Salinas, Chairman, Lord’s Bank Village
“ The concern is always there, but the police has ramped up their pet patrol. We always have a lot of police presence in the village. It’s a big village. The Ville Precinct has a very big role to play when it comes to, to, to protecting the villagers of Ville. I think they go all the way to Boom Junction. To moscot all those areas there, so they have a very big role. A very big area to look after. But we also have a lot of neighborhood watch groups in the area, in the village. I do think that villagers will be more cautious and the watch groups will be more active.”
The investigation widens as police chase drug suspects and possible murder links. Shane Williams for News Five.
Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system
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