Crackdown on Panama insurance dodgers

Transit police holding hand held computers will be cracking down on drivers not having valid insurance says Transit Authority chief Jorge Ricardo Fábrega.

"We will finally enforce a law that has existed for years," he said.

The agency has been collecting information from insurance companies that will allow police holding hand-held computers known as the "Pele Police,"  to instantly check to see if a driver's insurance is up-to-date. The information in the computer will be updated daily.

"If your policy is not in force, you cannot continue driving," Fabrega said. Offending vehicles will be towed.

Previous Pele Police raids have netted scores of thousands of dollars in unpaid fines, and led to the jailing of criminals on the run.