Criticism Grows Over the Transfer of Prisoners to Coiba: ‘The Law was Violated’
The government’s decision could jeopardize the conservation agreements Panama has made with UNESCO and put Coiba’s recognition as a World Heritage Site at risk.
As more details emerge about the transfer of 29 prisoners to Coiba National Park, two concerns that transcend the political debate are beginning to surface among environmental law and conservation specialists.
Ricardo Wong, director of the Foundation for the Protection of the Sea (Promar) and president of the National Committee of Members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Panama, warned that the measure represents an outburst and a violation of the regulations that protect one of the most important natural areas in the country.
The New Tenants of Coiba: Gang Leaders and Murderers
Among those transferred to Coiba Island are gang leaders and highly dangerous murderers. Eduardo Macea pictured below, alias Marshall, is one of the inmates transferred to Coiba.
Among the prisoners transferred to a National Aeronaval Service (Senan) base on Coiba Island are leaders of some of the country’s most dangerous gangs and drug traffickers whom authorities attribute to the control of drug trafficking routes, homicides and settling of scores. Carlos Mosquera (alias Calitín) was also transferred to Coiba. He was arrested in 2022 during Operation Alpes, which dismantled another criminal structure dedicated to drug trafficking in the coastal areas of the provinces of Los Santos, Herrera, Coclé, Panamá Oeste and Veraguas.
