The authorities in Panama have confiscated what they call “a record-breaking amount of drug money”.
In a residential building in Nueva Providencia in the Caribbean province of Colon, over 10 million US dollars (almost 9 million euros) in cash were found on Wednesday. The sum is more than the national authorities there have ever confiscated from a criminal gang.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, it took the investigators more than twelve hours to add up all the money using a dozen machines. Several even failed because of the strain.
The cash was found in three different hidden locations around the house when crackdown on gangs linked to the embattled “golf clan” (Clan del Golfo) in neighboring Colombia. In addition, 10 firearms and 38 luxury vehicles from the group were confiscated.
At a press conference on Thursday, Panama’s Attorney General Javier Carabello said the sum was “a tough blow” to the group and “hits exactly where it hurts the most”.
‘Operation Fischer’
The bust led to the arrest of 57 people, all of whom are suspected of collaborating with the cartel. They are all charged with receiving and hiding large quantities of drugs from Colombia before being sent to the US via Central America. Five of the suspects are police officers.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was also involved in the operation, which began in February 2020.
‘Golf Clan’
Clan del Golfo is also known as the Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia. It was founded in 2006 after paramilitaries from the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) were demobilized. It is now considered the largest and most powerful criminal organization in Colombia.
Colombia is the world’s largest cocaine exporter and the US is the main consumer. The notorious cartel controlled around a third of Colombian production of the drug until it was recently weakened by the capture of its leader Darío Antonio Úsuga, “Otoniel” and dozens of other members last month. The clan’s network spans 28 countries and operates in alliance with Mexican mafias.
‘Otoniel’ was caught in Colombia and could be extradited to the USA.
