Gangs in Belize

An estimated 900 to 1,400 people in Belize were part of street gangs as of 2019, with some three dozen gangs active in the country. These gangs were formed in the 1980s in Southside Belize City, as offshoots of the American Bloods and Crips gangs. Most gangs in Belize remain based in the Southside, and retain at least loose affiliation with Bloods or Crips. They are widely deemed primarily responsible for sustained waves of violent, gun, and organised crime in the country since the 1990s, still unabated as of today.

History

Rise of gangs

In the 1960s, the economic devastation wrought by Hurricane Hattie prompted scores of Belizeans to emigrate to America, resulting in a sizeable overseas diaspora. Belizean emigrants to LA were there embraced by the budding Bloods and Crips street gangs, and subsequently spread them to Belize during holidays back home, or upon their deportation.
Locals promptly took to the novel American gangs, ostensibly due to media influence. The local 1970s premiere of The Wild Bunch, for instance, was credited as Belize's "first exposure to criminal street gang activities" by Home Affairs personnel. A group of impressionable youths allegedly began "cop the behaviour seen in the movie", dubbing themselves the Wild Bunch. The 1980s introduction of television and premiere of Colors are also cited as inspiring locals to embrace street gangs.
In addition to priming via media, the rise of gangs is further attributed to increased arrivals of US deportees from LA, and US-instigated eradication of cannabis farms, both in the 1980s. The deportee-gang members founded the country's first Bloods and Crips gangs, while the eradication programme forced a switch to imported cocaine. As a result, by the late 1980s and early 1990s the said street gangs were well-established, with "youths claiming to be members of the Crips and the Bloods fighting over colours and turf".
Initially, the official line by authorities was dismissive, claiming self-identified Bloods and Crips were "not real gang members, but only use the name". As gang violence became more violent and visible, however, police were forced to act despite this official denialism. The 1990 muggings and beatings of school children who had failed to pay protection money, for instance, prompted increased patrols and periodic sweeps, though these provided only brief respite, with said sweeps being "from a civil rights standpoint, highly questionable". Similarly, the 1991 drive-by shooting and murder of a student at Excelsior High in Port Loyola prompted a joint BPD-BDF operation "to take back the city streets" and a commission of inquiry.

Outbreak of gang-banging

The "most visible initial event" portending the coming gang warfare came in 1992, with the murder of Derek Itza Brown at the National Stadium in Belize City, and retaliatory murder of Lyndon Tunan Arnold in New York City. The ensuing violence spurred a quick about-face by authorities, prompting the country's earliest parliamentary response to gangs and first gang truce.
By the 2000s, efforts in Colombia and elsewhere had largely succeeded in blocking maritime cocaine traffic through the Caribbean Sea, leaving Central America as the only viable route to the US. Gang activity in Belize thus ramped up, and grew even more visible and violent. For instance, 2008 alone saw both the Putt Putt mass shooting and Mayflower grenade attack. By 2009, the country's murder rate had from the already-dizzying 16 per 100,000 rate in 2000.
The worsening situation in the 2000s now necessitated serious, concerted effort by authorities. Various attempts were then made to understand and address the problem of gang violence, including studies, preventative and rehabilitative programmes, policing reforms and operations, and parliamentary, judicial, and governmental measures. Nevertheless, the spiralling crime wave continued into the 2010s and 2020s unabated, despite several attempts to address it, including three further gang truces. By 2023, "comprehensive and long-term intervention continue to elude public and private efforts".

Types and activities

The earliest "gangs" were small crews or posses of mostly lower and working class Creole baseboys who appropriated bases in Belize City for the sale or use of ganja and for petty crime.
With the arrival of the Bloods and Crips, these disparate crews were purportedly coopted and consolidated into two large gangs, now properly street gangs composed of wanna-bes and true gang-bangers. By the early 1990s, these street gangs were seemingly being coopted by foreign drug traffickers to facilitate cocaine transshipment to America in exchange for arms and a portion of the cargo. They were also engaging in extortion, for instance, by demanding protection money from locals, including school children. Further activities included assaults, robberies, kidnappings, stabbings, shootings, homicides. There have even been allegations of gangs doing the illicit bidding of local corrupt politicians.
When the first street gangs began to splinter, the offshoots originally retained strong allegiances to Bloods or Crips. By the turn of the century, however, gang fragmentation accelerated, and rivalries no longer seemed to follow the old Bloods versus Crips line. And so "a new generation of gangs emerged" in the 2000s which were neither Bloods or Crips. By the 2010s, the new gangs "look less to US gangsta iconography and more to Jamaican rude boy identities and music".

Recruitment

Poor, urban, six to twenty-four year old boys not in schooling nor employment are thought to form gangs' core recruits. These boys are especially found in Southside Belize City. Their vulnerability to existing gang violence, poverty, and romanticisation of gangs, in addition to poor deterrence by authorities, have been cited as the primary reasons why youth join gangs, with the Gayle Report finding "boys join gangs because of the failings of the state and civil society". Thus, gangs remain these boys' only recourse for much-needed safety and welfare.

Demographics

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, street gangs were a mix of inexperienced wanna-bes and experienced gang-bangers. The former were mostly lower and working class Creole boys, aged twelve to early twenties, many with no or little secondary schooling, and with emigrant parents. In 1989, one scholar estimated Bloods at some 300 and Crips at some 1,000 members, though the official Home Affairs estimate at the time was circa 75 members total.
In the 2000s, official estimates found street gangs averaged 10 to 15 members, were concentrated in Southside Belize City, and were deemed responsible for a majority of the country's shootings and gun homicides. Their members were predominantly 14 to 30 year old males, mostly from underprivileged or dysfunctional homes, with some being deportees themselves or else influenced by deportees. Also, "limited numbers" of Mestizos were found to be associated with MS 13 or 18th Street. The Gayle Report found gangs were predominantly present in Southside, with their ethnic makeup fairly reflecting that of the area. They further found most members were not employable, had relatives in gangs, and could be classed into shottas or greens or soldiers and dons or bosses or generals. They conservatively estimated the tally of gangs at "just under 30", with 10 to 30 "hard core members" each.
Today, there are an estimated 900 to 1,400 gang members across some three dozen gangs, nearly all in Southside. A 2023 snowball sample study found gang members were disproportionately school drop outs, were parents with generally positive views on the importance of parenting, had accumulated relatively little material wealth, and felt unjustly treated by law enforcement and the judiciary.

Legacy

The most immediate effect of gang activity has been an unabated boom in violent crime, which has surpassed levels deemed epidemic by WHO. Further notable impacts include a similarly unrelenting wave of organised crime, the corrosion of social and state institutions, negative health and education outcomes, and economic losses, among others.
Scholarly attention to Belizean gangs has been relatively sparse, but has nonetheless picked up since the 2010s. The 2010 Gayle Report, by anthropologist Herbert Gayle, is deemed the earliest study to be based on primary data from gang members themselves, followed by a 2016 book based on the report, and a 2019 paper by ethnographer Adam Baird for Men and Masculinities.
In popular culture, Belizean gangs were first brought to widespread attention by Ross Kemp in a 2008 episode of Ross Kemp on Gangs. California Assemblyman Tom Hayden had earlier brought them to LA's attention in a 1995 article for the LA Times.

Timeline

Date	Place	Description
	Belize City	Gerald Tillett Jr shot and killed, allegedly by Taylor's Alley.
	Belmopan	Gang Intelligence, Investigation & Interdiction Unit succeed GSU.
	Belize City	Terrence Rhaburn killed in drive-by shooting of mechanic shop on Partridge Street Extension.
	Belize City	Gang truce signed.
	Dangriga, Stann Creek	Gerald Shiny Tillett Sr killed on Mangrove and St Vincent Streets.
	Belize City	Gang truce signed.
	Belize City	Four alleged George Street members murdered by throat slashing on Dean and Plues Streets, allegedly by GSU.
	Belize City	Arthur Young shot and killed by police on Northern Highway.
	Belize City	Sheldon Pinky Tillett shot and killed on Northern Highway, allegedly by Taylor's Alley.
	Belize City	Gang truce signed.
	Belize City	GSU allegedly brutalise attendees at a George Street funeral.
	Hattieville, Belize	Giovanni Nose Lauriano killed, allegedly by George Street.
	Belize City	Andre Dre Trapp shot and killed near Supreme Court on Regent Street, allegedly by George Street.
	Belize City	Ervin Beans James shot and killed on Ross Penn Road, allegedly by George Street.
	Belmopan	GSU founded.
	Belize City	National Commission for Families and Children commission Gayle Report.
	Belize City	Mayflower grenade attack on Mayflower & Vernon Streets.
	Belmopan	Home Affairs commission Crooks Report.
	Belize City	Putt Putt shootings on Princess Margaret Drive, Belcan Bridge, Raccoon Street Extension.
	Belize City	George Junie Balls McKenzie Jr murdered by lone gunman on North Front Street, allegedly by Jungle, and allegedly with police aid.
	Hattieville, Belize	Kolbe Foundation approved to run Central Prison.
	Belize City	Anthony Trigger Adderley murdered on Western Highway.
	Belmopan	National Youth Cadet Service Corps founded.
	Belmopan	Conscious Youth Development Programme founded.
	Belize City	Gang truce signed at Bird's Isle.
	Belize City	Central Prison relocated to Hattieville, Belize due to severe overpopulation.
	Belmopan	Crime Control & Criminal Justice Act passed.
	New York City, US	Lyndon Tunan Arnold murdered on Buffalo Avenue, allegedly by Crips.
	Belize City	Derek Itza Brown murdered at National Stadium, allegedly by Bloods.
	Belmopan	Crimes Commission appointed.
	Belize City	Joint BPD-BDF operation "to take back the city streets".
	Belize City	Excelsior High student killed in drive-by shooting by lone cyclist.
	Belize City	"Many students commuting to schools" mugged or beaten by gang members.
s	Belize City	Bloods and Crips form in Southside.
s	Los Angeles, US	Bloods and Crips form in South Central.