Panamanian authorities intercept a speedboat with 940 packages of drugs

The National Aeronaval Service of Panama (Senan) seized 940 packages of an undetermined drug in Panamanian Caribbean waters, and detained five foreigners for their alleged connection with the illicit substance, the police force reported this Saturday.

The drug was found by members of the Senan aboard a speedboat manned by five people, after being intercepted north of Isla Colón, in the Bocas del Toro archipelago, in the province of the same name.

The crew tried to flee, but were arrested and the boat confiscated. Among the detained, unidentified, there are three of Colombian nationality, a Nicaraguan and a Costa Rican, an official source told EFE.

In coordination with the Bocas del Toro drug prosecutor’s office, 38 packages with 940 packages of drugs were counted, not determined by weight or type.

The National Air Naval Service highlighted that so far in 2021 it has seized a total of 70,104 drug packages.

On October 30, the Senan seized 3,499 packages of drugs found inside containers on a ship in transit from Chile to the Netherlands, being the largest seizure of this type made in the country, according to official information.

So far this year, a record 98.6 tons of drugs have been seized in Panama, the vast majority cocaine, said the Minister of Public Security, Juan Pino, on October 22.

Of the seized drugs, more than 80 tons were trafficked by sea routes, while some 27 tons of cocaine were found in cargo containers, a modality on the rise in this criminal activity.

Panama, a transit country for drugs produced in the south of the continent and whose main market is North America, seized a total of 84.87 tons of drugs in 2020, mostly cocaine. (I)