DRAFTING BY: DEMETRIO ABREGO
The Minister of Public Security, Juan Manuel Pino, accepted that the month of September has been one of the most violent months in the entire year 2022, due to homicides in two hot zones in Colón and East Panama.
Of the four homicides that have been registered in the month of October, 3 are in Colón, Pino said.
For the last homicide registered in Colón, according to Pino, there are already two people arrested and both are minors.
He stressed that most of these criminal actions of homicides are due to quarrels between gangs linked to drug trafficking.
Pino also said that there are foreigners, Colombians and Venezuelans, as well as nationals involved in crimes that are harming migrants who enter the Republic of Panama through the Darién jungle.
He cited as an example the capture of several Venezuelans in the last hours who were carrying out scams, assaults and deceptions to migrants who wish to cross to Panama through the Darién jungle.
Pino stressed that due to the latest criminal acts that have been registered in the Republic of Panama, especially in Colón, people who are under judicialization have been captured.
He did not rule out that in the next few hours there will be new apprehensions of individuals who are involved in the robbery of the National Bank of Panama.
Pino assured that only on the night of this Thursday, October 6, 2,900 migrants entered the Darién jungle, most of them Venezuelans.
Pino’s statements were made during a meeting he held at the Governor’s Office of the province of Chiriquí, where the minister announced that they would take the program pacifying my neighborhood to this area of the country. He highlighted that through this initiative they have recovered more than 600 firearms so far this year.