Panama seizes five tons of cocaine in a shipment of bananas

Panama Five tons of cocaine were confiscated hidden in containers with bananas in one Ship whose destination was SpainSecurity Minister Juan Manuel Pino reported this on Thursday.

The Maltese-flagged ship left Guayaquil (Ecuador) and was searched at a port in the Caribbean province of Colón, where the drugs were found by the National Aeronaval Service (Senan), the minister indicated. The Maltese-flagged ship left Guayaquil (Ecuador) and was searched at a port in the Caribbean province of Colón, where the drugs were found by the National Aeronaval Service (Senan), the minister indicated.

The merchant ship “brought two containers contaminated with cocaine as well as bananas,” Pino told reporters.

There are “five tons of drugs that don’t arrive anywhere in the world and that are being destroyed here in Panama,” he added.

Senan noted on his X account on the social network that this anti-drug operation was carried out in collaboration with the “French Customs Intelligence.”

He added that in the first two months of the year he seized 16 tons of narcotics in 18 operations in which 35 people were arrested.

In 2023, Panama seized 119 tons of drugs, less than the record 138 tons in 2022.

Panama is a transit point for drugs coming from South America, mainly Colombia, destined for the United States, the world’s largest consumer of cocaine. Panama is a transit point for drugs coming from South America, mainly Colombia, destined for the United States, the world’s largest consumer of cocaine.

However, Panamanian authorities are warning of an increase in drug seizures in Caribbean ports destined for Europe. AFP