Authorities in Panama have intercepted a ship carrying 12 tons of cocaine that was en route to the United States. Ten people were also arrested
Authorities in Panama have intercepted a ship carrying several tons of cocaine en route to the United States. During the operation on Monday, around twelve tons of the drugs were confiscated and ten people were arrested, public prosecutor Julio Villareal said on Tuesday. This is one of the largest drug discoveries ever made in Panamanian waters.
Villareal said those arrested included citizens of Venezuela, Ecuador and Nicaragua. According to him, the ship started in Colombia.
Panama is an important transshipment point for cocaine from South America, especially from Colombia, which is smuggled from there to America. In 2023, authorities in Panama seized a total of 119 tons of drugs.
Trump accused Venezuela of facilitating drug smuggling in the US
Recently, Latin American countries have increasingly made efforts to demonstrate their efforts in combating drug trafficking. The US Army has been attacking ships suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean for weeks. According to the US, so far at least 76 people have been killed in at least 20 US attacks in international waters.
According to Washington, the operation in the region aims to combat drug trafficking. US President Donald Trump accused Venezuela of actively encouraging drug smuggling into the US and thereby endangering the security of the US and its citizens. However, Venezuela’s left-wing nationalist President Nicolás Maduro classified the killing of a suspected drug trafficker as an illegal “execution” and suspected a US plot to overthrow him.
