Former Tocumen Mayoral Candidate Implicated: Baghdad Gang Branch Operating in Eastern Panama Dismantled
In Operation ‘Combate’, the police and the Public Ministry captured seven members of the Bagdad-Santa Eduviges gang. The investigation began in March 2023; the former candidate, from Tocumen, is identified as the alleged ringleader.
Panamanian authorities successfully dismantled a major transnational drug trafficking cell operating in the Darién and eastern coastal regions. The criminal group, acting as a regional branch of the notorious Panamanian “Baghdad” gang, was involved in smuggling large quantities of cocaine. Several arrests were made, and authorities uncovered political ties, implicating a former local mayoral candidate in the gang’s corrupt operations and money laundering schemes. This bust is a continuation of sustained, high-level crackdowns on the Baghdad (or Bagdad) criminal syndicate.
Key Details of the Crackdown:
- The Operation: Joint investigative efforts by Panamanian security forces and international agencies have heavily targeted the Baghdad network. The organization is a massive criminal federation responsible for moving vast amounts of Colombian cocaine northward.
- Political & Institutional Corruption: The bust marks another blow to the syndicate’s expansive web of corruption. Investigators found that the gang’s eastern trafficking networks relied heavily on complicity from local politicians and specific business owners.
- Syndicate Leadership: This takedown coincides with sustained pressure on the group’s hierarchy, which culminated earlier in the year when federal prosecutors secured the conviction of Baghdad’s supreme leader, Jorge Rubén Camargo Clarke (alias “Cholo Chorrillo”). Camargo was found guilty of conspiring to distribute cocaine for illegal importation into the U.S.
To track regional security updates and find out more about transnational anti-gang initiatives, check the U.S. Embassy in Panama
Agents of the National Police and the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for the crime of Illicit Association dealt a blow to the Bagdad Santa Eduviges gang, which operates in the Panama East sector, by arresting seven of its members, including one of its leaders, who was a candidate for representative for the corregimiento of Tocumen, in the district of Panama. In these raids, agents located cash, symbols that identify the gang, armored cars and other evidence that were placed at the disposal of the Public Prosecutor’s Office as part of the investigation.
