In Chiriquí Province Panama Eight Arrested in a Drug Trafficking Ring Operating in Fancy Taxis.

A total of eight people were arrested, 10 cars were seized, and $2,000 in cash was confiscated as a result of an anti-drug operation carried out by the Police and the Drug Prosecutor’s Office in the province of Chiriquí.  During the proceedings, carried out in Bugaba, the authorities dismantled a criminal organization dedicated to the distribution of narcotics through taxis that moved through different points of the province.  The Prosecutor’s investigations indicate that one of the alleged leaders of this criminal network was murdered on August 30, while at his residence in Bugaba.  The investigation reveals that the crime sparked a series of incidents between rival gangs vying for control of drug sales in that part of the country.  The deputy commissioner of the National Police, Roberto Monterrey, explained that, during the operation called “Delivery”, 12 raids were carried out in which several cars allegedly used for the transport of narcotics were located. 

Monterrey explained that several surveillance and monitoring procedures were carried out on the organization, which allowed them to identify the locations where it carried out its illicit activities.  The organization had been under surveillance since 2025, when authorities made several drug seizures and arrested people linked to it.  During the raids, authorities located evidence and documentation suggesting links to criminal groups operating in Panama City.  The group would provide support to other structures that attempt to move drugs across the border with Costa Rica.  This is the largest anti-drug operation carried out in recent months in the province of Chiriquí. Authorities have increased surveillance in the border area of ​​Paso Canoas, through which hundreds of cargo trucks pass, trucks that could be used to conceal drugs.