Free Zone denies it’s home to gangs and drug smuggling

The  Colón Free Zone (ZLC) and the province that hosts it is home to gangs counterfeiting, and cocaine smuggling, says an article by Mat Youkee in the UK’s respected Guardian newspaper.

The area that was destined to be a commercial center for the Americas became synonymous with drugs, gangs, and violence, the note highlights. The publication adds that the commercial area – established in 1948 as the second largest free trade zone in the world, with clear wholesale redistribution objectives for Latin America and the Caribbean – also became the center of an agency operation Europol, in which Anthony Martínez Meza, son of a director of the ZLC, and suspected of organizing drug shipments from Colón, was arrested.

The British publication quoted an interview by the president of the Colón Chamber of Commerce, Michael Chen, who stated that “every day the situation seems to get worse… Organized crime and gangs find more creative ways to overcome what remains of my city”.

Alejo Campos, regional director of Crime Stoppers Latin America, pointed out that “the objective of the gangs is to obtain control of the points where the containers can be contaminated with drugs in the free zone and the ports ”. He added that “there is a big territorial dispute at the moment. Police actions have decapitated some of the gangs and new leaders have emerged looking to position themselves on their patch, and that’s when the killings begin.”

According to The Guardian’s note, the cocaine would arrive in the free trade zone, in containers, from Buenaventura, on the Pacific coast of Colombia, or through land routes, before being hidden in containers bound for Europe. He adds that the procedures would be carried out with the complicity of the unions, who would have been co-opted by the gangs. He maintains that the statistics show that only 2% of the containers go through scanners to detect contraband.

The city
The British outlet also makes an analysis of the current situation in the city of Colón. An interview with a renowned tailor,  William Donadío and who is 94 years old, is included. Donadío recounts having had US military and workers from numerous multinationals as clients throughout his career and also having been present, among the crowds, when Colón received visits from Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) and President Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969).

Reaction 
On its Twitter account, the free zone published statements by its general manager, Giovanni Ferrari, in which he indicated that “to say that there is a smuggling problem [in the ZLC] is an inaccurate and slanderous comment.”

The ZLC and the user companies “continue working to comply with international compliance standards with the vision of shielding the activity of the free zone against illicit trade activities, as part of the commitment to our reputation.