The Nexus: Belize Fights Crime To Foster Growth

Long known among diving enthusiasts for its famed Blue Hole and other underwater attractions, Belize, for years, was a quiet country of around 420,000 people, split among a diverse population with Mayan, European, Creole, Asian, and African heritage, that mostly made headlines for destruction from hurricanes.

But over the past few years, crime syndicates along with tourists have put it on the map.

Belize’s geographical position has made it an ideal transit point for trafficking in arms, drugs, and people, according to the Global Organized Crime Index, adding that this development occurred because of collusion between criminal gangs and government officials.

These days, crime in Belize is a mixed bag, according to expatriate-facing analysis firm Nomad Capitalist. The company’s assessment of the Central American country described how tourist areas are generally safe but many neighborhoods in Belize City and elsewhere are dangerous.

Nomad Capitalist’s interest in Belize on the Caribbean Sea reflects how the former British colony has become popular among English speakers seeking fun in the sun as well as a safe place to park their money in an offshore tax haven. As the country’s crime problem illustrates, the combination of these factors has put Belize in the crosshairs of troubling trends.

Domestically, Belize suffers from the ills that cause crime and violence in the developing world and impoverished areas of the US and other wealthy countries.

“Feedback loops showed that firearm-related crimes increased the chances of household poverty, national economic costs, deaths, and disability, and promoted a culture of violence, all of which reinforced gun violence,” explained the Canada-Caribbean Institute.

Belizean police are now working hard to counteract this cycle, especially regarding gangs that have grown in power and boldness in recent years. In one incident that caused outrage in the country, gang shootings resulted in the deaths of a two-year-old and a 10-year-old, reported Greater Belize Media.

Internationally, drug smugglers flying from Venezuela to North America often use an “air bridge” through Belize, for instance, when they believe authorities might “bust” them above Guatemala or Honduras, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, citing leaked Mexican Secretariat of National Defense emails.

“Belize was simply a transit point when the pressure became too intense for the air bridge operations in Guatemala,” Jesús Romero, a former US naval officer involved in anti-narcotics operations in the region, told the organization.

The Trump administration on Sept.15 named Belize as a major transit country for drug shipments to the US.

This law enforcement effort targeting airborne routes is one reason why drug lords have opted for seaborne routes that the American military has been targeting in recent weeks. One of these strikes allegedly destroyed a civilian fishing vessel, causing an international rift between Colombia and the US, wrote USA Today.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Caribbean Community Implementation Agency for Crime and Security are working with officials in Belize to crack down on drug runners with training, for example, on how to identify and handle firearms that criminals bring along with their cocaine, a UN statement said.

Belize is also working closely with other international partners who are crucial to helping the country stem crime. The country has joined the free movement pact with other Caribbean Community members whose citizens will likely invest in the country, Amandala wrote.

The Central American country is also opening up internationally in other ways.

This month, Prime Minister Johnny Briceño has proposed making Belize into a “safe third country” that accepts migrants seeking asylum in the US, for example, the BBC reported. The government is also partnering with the World Wildlife Fund and others to preserve its remarkable tropical environment and oceanic resources from poachers and other threats.

The idea is to make the country attractive to outsiders, warts and all, say analysts. That was on display at the recent Belize Investment Summit 2025 on Ambergris Caye, which aimed to position Belize as a strategic investment hub at the crossroads of the Caribbean Community, Central America, and Southeastern Mexico.

Speaking to attendees, Briceño underscored Belize’s role as a “beacon of opportunity” with its unique geographic location, rich biodiversity, and youthful English-speaking population, as well as the government’s efforts to crack down on crime, streamline bureaucracy, and get its economic house in order. “Belize is more than a domestic market of 430,000 people,” he said. “We are a strategic nexus.”