LatinNews Daily Report - 21 May 2013

SECURITY | Major drugs seizure. Panama’s national aeronaval service (Senan) on 20 May announced the seizure of 2.4 tonnes (t) of cocaine and the arrest of a Honduran following an operation carried on 17 May in the Caribbean coastal province of Colón. In a press conference, Edgar Pino, the Senan deputy commissioner, said the cocaine was found inside an abandoned house, along with an AK-47 assault rifle. According to the latest March 2013 report by the US State Department’s International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Panama reported the seizure of 30.8t of cocaine in 2012, largely in cooperation with US law enforcement. The state department noted that “this includes cocaine captured by Panamanian authorities, but does not include 8.3t of cocaine seized by US Coast Guard (USCG) assets in or near Panamanian waters, or cocaine jettisoned by traffickers during pursuit”. The 2012 result was a 10% decline from the 34t seized in 2011. According to the report, “the US attributes the drop in cocaine seizures to a combination of factors: disruption of established DTOs; a trafficking shift away from multi-ton shipments; reduced production in Colombia; and increased disruptions and seizures in some source countries.” Separately on 20 May, a member of the Institutional Protection Service (SPI), responsible for protecting President Ricardo Martinelli and First Lady Marta Linares de Martinelli was arrested in an anti-drugs operation by the national police.

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