2024-09-08 08:15:28
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino announced on Thursday a nighttime curfew for minors in the Caribbean province of Bocas del Toro, a famous tourist area, to combat gangs that “work for the Gulf Cartel or the Tren de Aragua.”
“The crime rate in Bocas del Toro is very high. It is one of the provinces that ranks first in terms of crime, murders and drug trafficking,” Mulino said at his weekly press conference.
Mulino said that next week he will ask local authorities in Bocas del Toro, a province bordering Costa Rica, to declare a nighttime curfew for minors.
This measure is in addition to the curfews for minors that have been in force for several days in the Caribbean province of Colón and in the populous district of San Miguelito, adjacent to the capital.
Bocas del Toro, located more than 550 kilometers by road from Panama City, is made up of paradisiacal islands and territory on the mainland, visited by many foreign tourists.
However, Panamanian authorities fear that it may be a refuge for fugitives from justice from other countries.
According to Mulino, the measure seeks to counter the power of gangs, which are responsible for most of the homicides, drug trafficking and money laundering in the country.
“Panamanian gangs today work for the Gulf Cartel or the Tren de Aragua,” criminal groups originating in Mexico and Venezuela, respectively, Mulino added.
“If I see that there is no collaboration or [los toques de queda] “They are not working as they should, I will turn up the volume and stronger actions will come,” warned the president.
In recent weeks, dozens of people have been arrested in Panama, including police officers and the son of a lawmaker, for their alleged links to gangs or drug trafficking.
In 2023, Panama seized 119 tons of drugs, lower than the record of 138 tons in 2022.
Panama serves as a transit point for cocaine from South America, mainly Colombia, which is sent to the United States, the world’s largest consumer of this drug, or to Europe through Caribbean ports.
© Agence France-Presse
