Most dangerous gang leader freed

A GANG leader named by police as one of the most dangerous men in the country who was found in 2009 with $1 million in cash  in a brief  case which he said he found near  his car, has been acquitted

The Seventh Circuit Criminal Court acquitted and ordered the immediate release of Dangelo Dayan Ramirez Ramea and Sergio Vanela Hernandez, accused of  of money laundering after a Sept. 28, 2009, police operation   in Panama City.

The  ruling dated May 25 was signed by, Felipe Fuentes, who concluded that the prosecution failed to prove that the accused was inolved  in any activity related to  money laundering.

He argued that none of the two defendants received, negotiated, transferred or converted the money seized.

He also claimed that the prosecution based the case only on the possession of money from the defendants, but did not demonstrate drug trafficking.

The judge called a “hint” that money seized from the accused tested positive in the “ion scan” for -detection of particulate substances amphetamine and methamphetamine .

Fuentes noted that it is known that banknotes circulate freely between an incalculable number of people, without being able to specify who, how and when the money was in contact with the drug.

The judge also rejected a financial report bythe  Money Laundering Directorate of Police Investigation, which  concluded that the accused could  do not justify their income and assets and that  the seized money, came  from drug-related activities.

The judge said that the document did not have the quality of a financial report, but was a simple police report. A protective measure was applied to Ramea Ramirez who must remain confined to his home.

A CASE HISTORY
The investigation was initiated September 2009, after police saw three men in Costa del Este moving  bundles of newspapers from  a pickup truck van to a Toyota Prado and tried to interview them, but they fled. A police chase ended  in Campo Lindbergh where they found 29 sealed plastic packages with money, one gun and three cell phones, one with  images of packages of drugs and money.

During the investigation, police found that  vehicle belonged to Ramirez Ramea, who was arrested at Tocumen International while trying to leave the country.

In  statements Ramirez Ramea  said the  million dollars was not his and  he found it near his car after exercising with a friend in Costa del Este .

According to his version, he returned to his car saw a briefcase, opened it and there was the money. He said he decided to take it  and on the way to his house contacted another friend. When  police  appeared and they  got nervous and fled.

Ramirez Ramea, who was held in the maximum security Punta Coco jail on Isla Rey in the Las Perlas, is considered by the National Police Intelligence as one of the most dangerous criminals in the country, and the  alleged leader of Calor  Calor  one of the most dangerous gangs in the capital, who has been linked to the alleged commission of various crimes.

In 1998, he was arrested as a member of a gang of robbers who used police vests.

In February, 2002, he was acquitted of killing    Carlos Mejia Argúmedez, who died of multiple gunshot wounds.

In 2005, he was investigated for allegedly being linked to robbing  the Bank of China, in Colon of  $2.4 million. He and 14 others were  acquitted in October 2006.

He is said  to have been related to Joseph Cossio, deported in April 2015 for being allegedly linked to the commission of multiple crimes.

Cossio was one of the suspects, acquitted of  the Bank of  China.robbery  And both were held in Punta Coco