Panama: Seizure of a record $ 10 million from the drug trade

Panamanian authorities have announced the seizure of a record more than $ 10 million in cash, an amount derived from the drug trade of a criminal organization linked to the Colombian Clan del Golfo cartel.

“This significant amount of money belongs to the disbanded criminal organization, which is collaborating with the criminal group known as the Clan del Golfo,” the prosecutor’s office said in a press release today.

“This is undoubtedly the largest seizure of drug trafficking money in the country’s history,” Attorney General Javier Carabalo told the press.

The money was found in bags hidden in three hiding places in a house in the city of Nueva Providence, in the province of Colon (north), during a police operation, which led to the arrest of 57 people.

Ten firearms and 38 luxury vehicles were also confiscated during the operation, which involved the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

It took authorities more than 12 hours to raise the money and count it with ATMs, some of which were wasted due to the sheer volume of money.

Nine civil servants were among those arrested, including five police officers suspected of “receiving, monitoring and concealing large quantities of drugs from Colombia,” according to the prosecutor’s office.

The drugs were then shipped to the United States on the orders of the Clan del Golfo cartel. It controls nearly a third of Colombia’s cocaine production.

SOURCE: AMPE

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Source From: Capital

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