Panama on US drug trafficking black list
PANAMA remains on President Barack Obama’s black list of 22 countries whose production or trafficking of drugs have the greatest impact on the United States.
In his annual list sent to Congress on Monday, September 15, Obama gave special billing to Bolivia, Burma and Venezuela as three countries that have failed “demonstrably” during the last 12 months to honor their international counter narcotics obligations.
The 22 countries are Afghanistan, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Dominican Republic and Venezuela .
The document containing the list expresses concern about poppy cultivation in Mexico, the main supplier of illegal opium derivatives, followed by Colombia and Guatemala.
Obama said that the American authorities have initiated more than of 4,500 heroin investigations since 2011, and $110 million have been allocated to the Mexican authorities for equipment and training.
The report added that US cooperation helped Colombia to seize 379 kilos of heroin in 2013, and Guatemala eradicated considerable crops the same year.
Obama noted that coca production in the three countries (Colombia, Bolivia and Peru) is carried on at 133,700 hectares, the lowest level since statistics were first kept in 1990.
