ENVIRONMENT: 80 arrests for illegal mining

The National Police have captured 80 suspects in 2023  accused of practicing illegal mining and other related crimes against natural resources.

The provinces where illegal extractions have taken place are Panama, Coclé, and Colón, specifically in the communities of n Costa Arriba de Colón, Donoso and Caimitillo, Quebradas Mula, Colorada, and Mono.

In the operations, the Rural and Tourist Environmental Police have seized 22 chainsaws and 17 motorized pumps.

The illegal extraction of metals destroys, contaminates, and degrades the environment, causing irreversible effects on the entire ecosystem of the area.

Arcadio Jurado, Head of the Specialized Service of the Environmental Police, indicated that this practice is frequent on the banks of rivers and other water tributaries, headwaters of basins and buffer zones of protected natural areas.