Major crimes: Rise in first half of 2023 driven by sharp increase in burglaries

Published by BBNTEAM at July 17, 2023

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Posted: Monday, July 17, 2023. 5:12 pm CST.

By Aaron Humes: Major crimes increased from 476 in the first half of 2022 to 510 in the first half of 2023, according to statistics from the Belize Crime Observatory.

While murders are down as are robberies (- 7) and unlawful sexual intercourse (- 8), rape was up slightly by five and theft by ten. But the biggest driver was an increase in burglaries from 246 last year to 295 this year, led by the Belize District with 117.

Burglary is legally defined as entering a dwelling with intent to steal and homes and businesses are increasingly becoming targets.

There was an increase in arrests to 83, with an overall increase of arrests to 155.

In the area of drugs, police seized sizable quantities of processed cannabis, cocaine and crack cocaine, but 22 fewer firearms. Double the number of firearms from last year was reported stolen (20), with only two recovered, while a further six were reported “lost.”

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