BELMOPAN, Belize (CMC) – Belizean Police Commissioner Chester Williams says gummies laced with marijuana, resulting in a number of people, including a five-year-old child, being rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) , had been discovered in a barrel by Customs.

The Belize government has since ordered a “full and thorough” investigation into the matter that is expected to “determine the source of some sweet treats…that were ingested by a number of children and adults.”

“Initial information is that the treats were purchased from two individuals, who are now in police custody along with some recovered items,” the Office of the Prime Minister said in the statement.

Williams said the Anti-Narcotics Unit (ANU) retrieved the gummies and samples were taken and sent to the National Forensic [Science] Services for analysis because “we did not know then what those gummies were or what they represent.”

“So, for us to have been sure, it was sent to the lab for testing about three weeks ago. From what I was briefed yesterday, the boxes containing these gummies were taken to our national exhibit room in Belize City for safekeeping, pending the return of the results that were requested from the lab.”

But Williams said that sometime last week, based on the briefing he was given, “the exhibit keeper decided to dispose of these gummies by way of putting them in a garbage trailer that is kept inside the Queen Street Police Station compound.” But the gummies soon found their way back onto the streets.

“Thereafter, the yardman at Queen Street took the trailer to the dumpsite at mile three on the [George Price Highway] and disposed of those gummies. But the garbage man, likewise, or the yardman, also dug into the boxes and he too took some of those gummies, as well as other persons who were at the dumpsite at that particular moment.”

The police commissioner said that the gummies were then brought back into the city by different persons and were later sold.

He said while the police have not yet received the result from the National Forensic Science Services testing, he has been informed by the director of the National Forensic [Science] Services “that the test on the gummies have concluded and it is confirmed to contain cannabis.”

However, Williams acknowledged that a sting operation has commenced to nab the person whom the barrel was intended for. That person is believed to be a police officer who has been on interdiction since March 2021.