Queen of Coca” laundered millions of Euros in Panama

Ana María Cameno, aka the “queen of coca”, accused of crimes related to drug trafficking, the laundering of millions of euros in Panama, and illegal possession of weapons appeared before Spanish judges on Monday, March 28 to hear revelations of her activities that read like a Netflix movie script.

Cameno faces 25 years in prison for alleged money laundering in Panama through the Bandenia financial beach bar, as entities that provide investment services without being authorized are known.

The trial comes eight years after she was arrested along with her sentimental partner when she allegedly directed the distribution of one hundred kilos of cocaine to different parts of Spain. The trial was initially set for January 2020 and postponed several times, one of them for being hospitalized.

The Anti-Drug Prosecutor attributes the same crimes to her partner, José Ramón Mora, for whom he requests 21 years in prison, in addition to claiming each one a fine “of four times the value of the narcotic substance” and another of 1.2 million euros ( about 1.3 million dollars) for money laundering.

Next to them will sit on the bench the other six arrested in the police operation that took place in Spain as a result of the arrest of Cameno, who face 13 years in prison.

Five other people linked to laundering the money obtained from the sale of the drug are also accused, for whom sentences of 5 and 4 years are requested.

The operation involved the dismantling of a network of drug traffickers who had set up a structure to launder profits in financial products and through transfers to Panama.

According to the provisional conclusions of the prosecutor, the investigation began in 2013 after detecting that Cameno, who had already been linked to different drug trafficking operations, “continued to develop” this type of activity.

Thousands in underwear
Among the drug distribution operations is one in which cocaine valued at 5.9 million euros (almost $6.5 million. was seized. At the time of her arrest,  Cameno had 87,000 euros (about $95,565) hidden in her underwear.

The money laundering investigations began after the discovery of 48,750 euros (about $53,549 dollars) in a wastebasket in a cafeteria where Cameno had been moments before. It was learned later that she and her partner gave her large amounts of money to be deposited in bank accounts for transfer to Panama.