Bribery, corruption, drugs, pot shops and more

While Italy-Panama corruption and bribery  allegations continue to get world headlines,  news of the “war on drugs” has has slipped to the sidelines.

Guatemala’s bold attempt to get the use of drugs decriminalized got the expected thumbs down from President Obama at the recent OAS meetings in Cartagena.

But “news” is a strange animal. The discussion of an issue that involves a multi-billion dollar drug business got quickly pushed to one side when a group of secret service members, detailed to provide security for their president, got caught up in a hassle over price with a group of “ladies of the night”, whom they had taken into a secure zone.

A bunch of them have ruined their careers and have either been ejected from or parachuted out of the service, presumably without a golden or even silver handshake. There is of course always the Blackwater mercenary group who may not be so scrupulous in checking cv’s  and who have had their own share of headlines besmirching their country’s name in the “war on terror”  or in many cases, on hapless civilians.

But back to Panama where the government desperately needs a diversion from the daily reports coming out of Naples and out of the mouth of Valter Lavitola. Who bribed who and with what will probably never be totally revealed as none of the prime witnesses has ever been awarded an A for truthfulness and  a little perjury or “I can’t remember” goes a long way.

Butt the “good” news, reported Saturday by the Latin American Herald Tribune is that  The Panamanian has announced the end of an anti-drug operation that resulted in the seizure of a total of 7.9 tons of Colombian cocaine in recent days.

With an estimated street value of $1 billion, the drugs were destined for 13 different criminal organizations in the United States, police chief Gustavo Perez said.

“All these kilos have different labels and each one of them has a designation, which are the different organizations to which the drug was destined (to be shipped), which would have arrived at a single place, at Colon (on Panama’s Caribbean coast), for its redistribution,” Perez said while displaying the seized drug.
Panama’s Air-naval service (SENAN)  last Friday seized 4.9 tons of cocaine in a hideout located at the mouth of the Belen River, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) northwest of Panama City.
The seizure came 24 hours after SENAN had seized another three tons at the mouth of the Concepcion River, also northwest of the capital, after police pursued and exchanged gunfire with the drug traffickers.
Perez said that the anti-drug activities on the Atlantic coast will be intensified.

Cynics claim that the seizure are counted as the cost of doing business bythe drug lords, and for every kilo seized, 10 get through, and of course the law of supply and demand kicks in. Prices rise through the wholesale and retail sales chain and, as with everything else, the consumer pays.

Meanwhile while those calling for th legalization of drugs to end the power of the cartels, get encouragement even in some quarters of the US, in Holland, where  cafes legally selling cannabis have been a long standing tourist attraction,, the government is clamping down on visitors getting a pot fueled rosier view view of the country, by limiting sales to citizens.

Perhaps there’s an opportunity just waiting to happen for Panama, falling in behind Guatemala.