Drug links in Assembly, Security bodies, judiciary

DRUG TRAFFICKING  has penetrated  Panama state institutions and “half a dozen” deputies are being investigated  by international agencies  for allegedly moving drug money,says the president of the National Assembly.

Ruben De Leon made the statement  to La Estrella de Panama on Thursday January  and said that President Juan Carlos Varela  had confirmed  that international agencies are investigating half dozen deputies linked  to moving  drug money.

De Leon confirmed that a Ministry of Security official has been dismissed, and investigations  into other officials are underway. The woman worked with the Safe Neighborhoods program, a clear indication of infiltration of the system and said Presidentt Juan Carlos Navarro made  it clear that ‘there are other cases’.

De Leon said he was concerned how drug rings  had entered the Assembly, the security agencies, the judiciary and the Public Ministry and called for the  creation of  a front against the ‘common enemy of Panamanians’.
On Wednesday Ernesto Arias , advisor to Deputy Jose Poveda (CD)  was arrested while driving a vehicle with Deputy license plates  and  carrying a kilo of cocaine.