Panama's president on Friday presented a new elite counter-narcotics police unit to combat smuggling of increased cocaine production in neighbouring Colombia. The Eagle force, as it is called, consists of 300 officers with access to intelligence. They are tasked with cracking down on drug-related criminal activity in Panama City and the major Atlantic coast city of Colon, each located at either entrance to the Panama Canal.
"Unfortunately, in the cities of Panama and Colon there are powerful narco gangs operating," President Juan Carlos Varela said. The flow of drugs coming from Colombia, with much headed for the United States, has created a spike in violence as Panama's 150 gangs compete for turf and smuggling routes, he said.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2017
AFP text, photos, graphics and logos shall not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP shall not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP content, or for any actions taken in consequence.
Business Recorder shall not be responsible or held liable for any error of fact, opinion or recommendation and also for any loss, financial or otherwise, resulting from business or trade or speculation conducted, or investments made, on the basis of the information posted here. Nor shall Business Recorder be held liable for any actions taken in consequence." >Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017
AFP text, photos, graphics and logos shall not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP shall not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP content, or for any actions taken in consequence.
Business Recorder shall not be responsible or held liable for any error of fact, opinion or recommendation and also for any loss, financial or otherwise, resulting from business or trade or speculation conducted, or investments made, on the basis of the information posted here. Nor shall Business Recorder be held liable for any actions taken in consequence." >Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017