Belize pauses constitutional amendment; police arrest suspects in drug cases and firearm incident.

Prime Minister John Briceño has urged Police Constable Gabriel Pou to either formally report his information about the Joseph Budna kidnapping to the Director of Public Prosecutions or stop making public allegations, stressing the need for clarity in serious investigations. Pou’s legal team denies the government’s claims, accusing officials of retaliation and suppression, and is calling for an independent probe, which the government has not ruled out but notes lacks legal backing. Meanwhile, Belize has paused the 13th constitutional amendment, opting to explore changes through existing criminal justice legislation instead. In other developments, police made multiple drug-related arrests in Orange Walk, including a 17-year-old with over 60 grams of cocaine, and a 49-year-old American oil executive was detained at an airport for carrying a firearm but released without charges after cooperating and being cleared by U.S. authorities.