160 Panama gangs spreading to interior

Attorney General Eduardo Ulloa and the head of Public Security, Rolando Mirones.led a coordination meeting   on Friday, January 17 to combat the 160 gangs that exist in Panama

Anti-gang Prosecutor, Nathaniel Murgas, who also participated in the meeting, said that since 2015, 77 criminal groups have been prosecuted in the country. Of these 1,800 people have been prosecuted or charged, and 600 have been convicted of being gang members.

He added that the provinces with the greatest problems of gang members are Panama and Colon, but little by little the phenomenon has expanded to the interior of the country.

Mirones said that more than 70% of homicides last year are related to gangs.

“We are clear that gang violence is what we have to attack first,” he said.

In fact, investigations by the Public Ministry detail that the La Joyita Prison massacre on December 17, where 15  detainees died, was related to gang warfare.