In a press conference to give an account of their management, the prosecutor Marta Barrios, said that last year this result responds to 12 operations.

She also indicated that they seized a total of 1.8 million dollars in 6,781 operations and arrested more than 4,000 people, mostly Panamanians and the rest citizens of Colombia, Costa Rica and Venezuela.

According to the report, cocaine continued to be the most seized illicit substance with a total of 81.05 tons, followed by marijuana.

Many media outlets point out that Panama is used as a bridge for drugs produced in South America and mainly destined for the United States and Europe.

Uris Vargas, senior prosecutor of Homicide and Femicide, said that from January to December 2023, 206 cases were registered.

He also pointed out that 221 arrests were legalized, 250 charges were brought and 220 provisional arrests were made.

For its part, the Prosecutor’s Office against Organized Crime carried out more than 2023 operations between January and December 2023, among which “Omega”, “Medusa”, “Mate”, “Shark” and “Gemelas'” stand out.

A total of 371 investigations were carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office against Organized Crime during this period, for crimes against freedom, smuggling of migrants, trafficking in arms and explosives, trafficking in persons, crimes against freedom (kidnapping) and organized crime.

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