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Panama: Colombian
Drug-Trafficking Route
to US
Nicaragua Will
Boost Milk, Basic Food Production,
Ortega Says
Nicaragua Says
Colombia Is A Threat To Region
Ecuador Steps up Border,
Security
Brazil Seeks To Ease
Ecuador-Colombia-Venezuela
Tension |
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Panama: Colombian
Drug-Trafficking Route
to US
Colombian drug
traffickers have
continued to use Panama
as a route to smuggle
drugs into the United
States, the world's
largest market of
illegal substances,
according to reports
published on Monday.
In a lengthy article
entitled "Open Space for
Drug Trafficking", the
newspaper La Prensa
revealed the existence
of 36 clandestine
landing strips, which
are used by drug
traffickers in Panama.
First Anti-Drug
Prosecutor Jose Abel
Almengor told the
newspaper that the
situation is worse
because there is no
control in the Colombian
cities of Buenaventura
and Santa Marta, where
the drug is shipped.
Almengor admitted that
the fight against drug
trafficking in Panama is
very difficult with
Colombia on the other
side of the border.
He added that due to
poor surveillance,
clandestine landing
strips "are a paradise
for drug traffickers,"
whose pilots know that
Panama's radar systems
cannot detect flights
below 1,640 feet.
Almengor pointed out 50
private runways have
been registered with the
Civil Aeronautical
Authority (AAC) but 14
of them are not included
in any aviation map.
Sources from the sector
said that unauthorized
planes land in many of
those runways and their
owners cannot prevent
that situation, the
newspaper reported.
President Martin
Torrijos said on
Saturday in Parliament
that the Police's naval
and air services would
merge to reinforce
surveillance of
Panamanian territory.
Panama lacks an armed
force since the US
invasion of the country
on December 20, 1989. |
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