Panama controlled shell companies linked to drug network

A NETWORK of suspected money launders in Panama, Mexico and Colombia linked with a Panama based drug ring have been hit by economic sanctions said a U.S. government announced on Wednesday, May 14.

The suspected members of the network are linked to Lebanese- Colombian Jorge Fadlallah Cheaitelly , the EFE /AFP news agencies report.

According to EFE , listed eight individuals and 20 shell companies from Colombia , Panama and Mexico are included .
Among the partners of Cheaitelly Fadlallah, who according to U.S. officials headed a drug ring from Panama , are Panamanian lawyer Jorge Plata McNulty , his father Ignacio Rivera Plata and several partners that facilitated the laundering of money through front companies .
"Today's action underscores the fundamental role that some lawyers Panama citizens and residents play in helping drug trafficking organizations to establish front companies to allow the flow and money laundering from illegal sources ," said Adam J. Szubin director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Treasury Department in a press release .
The 20 sanctioned entities controlled by the organization are based in Panama , Mexico and Colombia , including the Colon Free Zone, and range from import and export companies, to restaurants, real estate and non-profit companies.
AFP said that 10 of those companies are controlled by Plata McNulty .
AFP also recalled that Cheaitelly Fadlallah was arrested in Costa Rica in 2011 and extradited to the United States in 2012 .