Panama Seizes 4.4 tons of Suspected Drugs Bound for Spain

Panamanian authorities seized 4.4 tons of what could be cocaine on Monday in three containers on a ship at a port terminal in the Caribbean region of Panama, bound for Spain.

The National Aeronaval Service (SENAN) and the Drug Prosecutor’s Office of Colón and Guna Yala, in the Panamanian Caribbean, seized 4,489 packages, weighing approximately one kilogram each, of the “alleged illicit substance,” which “were inside three containers on a ship from Guayaquil, Ecuador, in transit through Peru, Colombia, Panama and whose final destination was Spain,” the Public Prosecutor’s Office reported in a statement.

The seizures by the Colon Drug Prosecutor’s Office in the last three days amount to more than 7 tons, the note stressed.

In another operation, SENAN agents seized a large shipment of 3.2 tons of cocaine in Panamanian Caribbean waters and arrested four Colombian citizens for their alleged involvement with the illicit substance.

Panama is used as a bridge for drugs produced in South America that are mainly destined for the United States, the world’s largest consumer of cocaine, and also Europe.

So far this year, the National Aeronaval Service has seized at least 59,434 drug packages in 100 operations, including 34 in different ports, where 14,732 packages of cocaine were confiscated.

In 2023, Panama seized a total of 119.2 tons of drugs, the vast majority of which was cocaine, according to data released by the Ministry of Public Security.