51 Persons Apprehended for Drugs and Money Laundering

Some 51 people were apprehended during the development of operations called “Exodus” and “Ballena”, which were carried out in the provinces of Panama, Colón, Panamá Oeste, Coclé, Herrera and Los Santos.  According to Panamanian authorities, the purpose of these operations was to dismantle two criminal groups allegedly dedicated to the commission of crimes such as international drug trafficking, and money laundering to the detriment of the state financial system.  “These two operations aim to dismantle two operational branches of the same criminal group led by a person who is under preventive detention,” said the Attorney General of the Nation, Javier Caraballo, during a press conference. 

As a result of operation “Exodus”, 33 people were arrested.  The First Drug Prosecutor’s Office would have obtained information about two citizens nicknamed “El Paciero” and “Yunya”, who acted as the right hand of alias “La Letra” (who has been convicted and detained in the Punta Coco penal center since 2019) for the crimes of assembly and conspiracy and money laundering).  According to investigators, “El Paciero” and “Yunya” were the ones who managed the operational routes for shipping drugs to Europe and the United States. This criminal group, which includes aliases “Tuco”, “Yunya” and “Paciero”, was established in Spain and made trips through Europe and Dubai, establishing links in drug trafficking to coordinate the shipment of drugs in containers and by land to Costa Rica.  The group sent drugs on cargo planes from Panama and received them in different European ports, supported logistically by alias “Tuco”, who organized the entry of the drugs to the port terminals with the help of aliases “Don Gato” and alias “Negro”.It was reported that, as a result of the shipment of drugs to Europe, money payments were made through international transfers to the Panama banking system, sometimes using triangulations between European and American banks in order to naturally penetrate the financial system.  On the other hand, through operation “Ballena”, 18 people were arrested. The investigation of this case began after personnel from the National Aeronaval Service (SENAN) alerted about the existence of a group of people, national and foreign, dedicated to international drug trafficking and money laundering, led by alias “Rey”, who was apprehended on Wednesday, April 17, along with a woman in Colombia, a procedure that was achieved with the collaboration of the Prosecutor’s Office of that country.  Investigations have determined that alias “Rey” is the operational arm of alias “Paciero”, who is one of the main coordinators from Dubai, where he carries out everything related to the purchase, shipping, distribution and payments of drugs, and where he also appears with the alias “Yunya”.

Through Operation Ballena, it was possible to determine the great economic power of this criminal group, which accumulated properties in the country, acquired businesses to give the appearance of legality to the money coming from drug trafficking, and had savings accounts, among others,” Caraballo pointed out. The criminal organization was also characterized by the use of encrypted or closed communication through emails, he added.  During the development of both operations, 55 search and search procedures were carried out, resulting in the seizure of 10 firearms, ammunition, high-end vehicles and more than 140 thousand dollars in cash. The arrested persons and the evidence were placed at the disposal of the judicial authorities for proper processing.