Security insider confirms Martinelli era espionage

THE MARTINELLI government spied on politicians and other public figures with sophisticated  Israeli equipment and transmitted recordings to social networks like Facebook and YouTube says a senior executive of the Security Council.

The spy network, was recording illegally, and working for purposes outside of national security reports La Estrella de Panama.
Panama’s oldest newspaper spoke with a senior executive of the Security Council, who soke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the illegal activity and explained how the practices were implemented during the administration of former President Ricardo Martinelli.
The former official said the $13.4 million apparatus used to hack computers as recently reported by the new Security Council has disappeared , but other spy equipment was also purchased with Public funds The former Security Council Secretary General, father of the wife of Martinelli’s son, has denied knowledge of its whereabouts. A criminal complaint has been filed.
The Estrella source described gadgets and laptops purchased with public funds that worked with an antenna system that, in addition to tapping phone conversations, had the capacity to intercept personal dialogues. The apparatus could operate at a distance of between 500 and 700 meters.
According to the informant, spy laptops operated from a vehicle located at a safe distance from the target.
With an antenna system connected from the car to a base, conversations could be picked up from enclosed spaces, like an apartment, an office in a building, or a house. At least one time a bedroom was involved. It was also used to eavesdrop in public places like shops and restaurants.
The system could even intercept a conversation inside a vehicle if it was parked in a fixed location.
The only difficulty was in locating the target. With contact established, the signal was sent to a base responsible for decoding the data. Only two people in each car were needed to carry out the espionage.
Although it was operated by the Institutional Protection System (SPI) and National Police personnel, reports went directly to the top office of the Presidency of the Republic, the informant told  La Estrella.