Narco traffickers infiltrate cattle industry

 Security Minister, Juan Pino and senior security and Public Ministry officials met with ranchers from the Azuero peninsular on the weekend to discuss increased rustling and the infiltration of narco-traffickers into the industry as a way of laundering drug money.

At the meeting  were National Police Director  Jorge Miranda, the director of the National Aeronaval Service, Ramón Nonato López, prosecutor Efraín Jaén, on behalf of the Public Ministry, and the governor of Los Santos, Rubén Villarreal,

Pino asked the ranchers not to make agreements or deals with those who are taking the cattle from their farms.

“Organized crime has no limits, they sell cattle at auctions and that must be avoided, that is done by filing a complaint and taking the one who is robbing the producer to court, you cannot reach an agreement, because otherwise the crime is consumed and remains as one more statistic “, said Pino

So far during the pandemic only in the province of Los Santos, there have been about 500 complaints of livestock theft. In July a person was sentenced to six years in prison for the crime committed on a farm in El Carate de Las Tablas on April 6, 2020

But one of the issues that most worries the authorities is that, according to data from the Public Ministry, the Azuero peninsula, located more than 300 kilometers from Panama City, has emerged in recent years as the new route for trafficking. of drugs from Colombia reports La Prensa.

Due to its geographical position, the area facilitates logistics issues such as fuel supply for traffickers. And large amounts of drugs can be hidden in paddocks in the area.

According to Pino the weekend meeting was only a first step. Several alternatives were proposed, such as the setting up of a security box on the highway over the La Villa river, the installation of cameras at strategic points, as well as reinforcing compliance with municipal decrees that prohibit the transport of livestock at night.

In addition, together with Governor Villarreal, a site  is sought as far south of the province as possible, on the coast, to replicate the work being done in the air-naval station of the port of Mensabé, in Las Tablas, which began operations in  2012, and partially covers the bay of Parita, in Herrera, and the coasts of the Azuero peninsula, up to Veraguas.

Crime Stoppers
Ranchers and any citizen were also invited to present cases through Crime Stoppers, which manages a virtual platform to present anonymous complaints.