Armed robberies of banks, jewelries, pharmacies on the rise

Statistics from the Public Ministry reveal that between January and October of this year, 5,975 complaints had been registered in Panama for the commission of various criminal acts, a figure slightly lower than that of the same period in 2021 when 6,303 were reported.

However, both figures exceeded the 4,899 cases in 2020, the year the covid-19  pandemic was declared says La Prensa.

The numbers also show that robberies, assaults, and similar acts are more frequent in the streets and neighborhoods of In the first 10 months of 2022, 4,777 theft complaints had been reported in the Public Ministry, 303 more than in 2021. It means that until last month, on average, 16 cases of theft were registered per day.

Banks 
Among the most relevant criminal acts are the assaults and a robbery perpetrated against four banks in the capital between August and September for which 20 people  have been arrested   

On October 10, five armed people entered another branch of the Savings Bank, this time in El Ingenio, Betania, and left with $60,000.

On  October 12, five men assaulted the Brilat jewelry store,  

The next day, an armed group assaulted a jewelry store in Avenida México. On October 26, a group of armed men assaulted El Diamante, a jewelry store on Via Veneto.

Pharmacies 
Pharmacies have also become targets. On Sunday, November 13, the Metro and Farma Value pharmacies, in Betania and San Francisco, were the target of armed robberies by several men who took money from the tills.

The Minister of Public Security, Juan Pino, said the assaults were committed by people who had recently been released from prison. He added that through “intelligence work”, several of those who participated in the robberies were located, but are still on the trail of other suspects.

The minister attributed the increase in robberies to banks and other businesses “to the success of the authorities in confiscating drugs,” which, he added, has forced criminals to seek other ways to earn income. He said that so far in 2022, 110 tons of drugs have been seized.

“This is known as the balloon effect: when you squeeze on one side, criminal activity moves to another area or sector,” he explained.

Between January and October 2022, 401 homicides had been committed in Panama

Rodolfo Aguilera, former Minister of Security, believes that the “repressive” strategy of the current administration has not yielded results, since the levels of insecurity on the streets have increased after the covid-19 pandemic.

Aguilera emphasized that without a defined prevention policy, aimed basically at young people at social risk, it is very difficult to reduce crime.

He calculated that more than 80% of the inmates who are serving their sentences are repeat offenders. This happens, he said because they don’t have opportunities to get a job to feed their family. and, they fall into a vicious circle: they are in and out of prison.