Panamanian authorities seize 990 packages of suspected cocaine bound for Belgium

The security authorities of Panama reported this Saturday of the seizure in a Panamanian Pacific port of 990 packages of presumed cocaine from the United States and destined for Belgium .

The drug was found by units of the National Aeronaval Service (Senan) stored in 22 packages in a container located on board a merchant ship whose port of origin was Long Beach (USA) with transit through Panama to its final destination in Antwerp, Belgium, said a statement from the police force.

The seizure took place within the framework of the so-called Operation Isthmus with the coordination of the Panama Naval Air Operations Center (Croan), in conjunction with the Public Ministry (MP, Prosecutor’s Office).

Senan units seized this Friday 2,056 drug packages in two operations carried out in Panamanian Caribbean waters, one of them with the collaboration of Colombia and E United States.

The largest seizure occurred in the indigenous region of Guna Yala, when Senan agents intercepted a speedboat in which they found 68 packages with 2, 006 packages of alleged cocaine, according to what an official source told Efe.

The Colombian Navy and an aircraft from the United States participated in the operation, according to official information.

Other 50 packages of an unidentified drug were found in a port, hidden under the hull of a Hong Kong-flagged merchant ship, which in transit through Panama with a final destination in Morocco.

So far this year 80 tons of illicit substances have been seized, according to the anti-drug prosecutor’s office.

Panama, which seized in 2021 the historical figure of 128.7 tons of narcotics, is used as a transit bridge for the drug produced in Sura America and its main market is the United States, the largest consumer of cocaine in the world.