APAN Community
APAN Community
  • Site
  • User
  • Community  Chat Connect  Maps Translate  Support
  • Site
  • Search
  • User

Foreign Military Studies Office
  • Working Groups
  • TRADOC G-2 Operational Environment
  • Foreign Military Studies Office
  • Cancel
Foreign Military Studies Office
O E Watch Mobile Edition Military Training Key to Panama’s Success in Counter Drug Operations
  • Files
  • More
  • Cancel
  • New
  • +OE Watch Mobile Edition
  • OE Watch, Vol 08, Issue 06, Jun 2018 (Mobile Edition)
  • +OE Watch, Vol 08, Issue 05, May 2018 (Mobile Edition)
  • +OE Watch, Vol 08, Issue 04, Apr 2018 (Mobile Edition)
  • -OE Watch, Vol 08, Issue 03, Mar 2018 (Mobile Edition)
    • Abubakar Shekau…Dead Man Running
    • Another Potential Hit to China-Pakistan Relations
    • Boko Haram Psyop on Chibok Girls Continue
    • China Promotes Increased Maritime Capabilities
    • China’s Evolving Nuclear Strategy: Will China Drop “No First Use?”
    • Chinese Aviation Academies Introduce Free Air Combat Training
    • Chinese Su-35s Fly Patrols in the South China Sea for the First Time
    • Colombian Urban What-Is-Wrong List
    • Conflict, Cash, and Cholera
    • Considering Information War
    • CPEC: “Iron Brothers,” Unequal Partners
    • Cuba to Build Massive Windfarms with Chinese Assistance
    • Egypt-Turkey Friction Over Political Order in the “Levant Basin”
    • Engineer Troops Organizational Reforms
    • Foreign Forces in Africa
    • General Gerasimov on the Syrian Campaign
    • Indonesia, Malaysia Have Right of Hot Pursuit in Philippines
    • Iran Develops UAS with “Smart Bomb” Capability
    • Iran: Telegram Giving Data to US and Israel
    • Iran: US Sponsoring Islamic State in Afghanistan
    • Iran: Warship Sinks after Mishap
    • Iran: Winning Hearts and Minds in Deir Ezzor
    • Is China’s Afghanistan Strategy Modeled on Russia in Syria?
    • Is the Chinese Air Force Ramping up for Further Action Following the 2017 Doklam Standoff?
    • Maldives: Troubled Waters in the Indian Ocean and Growing Relations with China
    • Mali’s Civil Protection Challenge
    • Mexican Army Seizes Claymore Mines, Rifles, and Drugs in Tamaulipas
    • MILF Leaders Seek Lessons Learned from Indonesia
    • Military Training Key to Panama’s Success in Counter Drug Operations
    • Mirziyoyev’s Reforms Reach the National Security Service (SNB)
    • Namibia: Hungry Soldiers
  • +Monographs, Papers and Special Essays (PDF To Text Conversion)

Military Training Key to Panama’s Success in Counter Drug Operations

OE Watch Commentary: When the Panamanian Minister of Public Security Alexis Bethancourt took office in May 2016, he promised to make Panama “the most secure country in the Americas.” Many factors can be considered when determining if Bethancourt has kept his word, but some in Panama believe there is one area he has excelled at and that is in attacking drug trafficking head on. This idea is demonstrated by the fact that Panamanian authorities seized 84.6 metric tons of drugs (primarily cocaine) in 2017, surpassing the record amount of 72 metric tons seized in 2016 as reported in the excerpted article from La Patilla. The Ministry of Public Security, the National Aeronaval Service (SENAN), the National Border Service (SENAFRONT) and the National Police unveiled this figure at a recent press conference, citing international cooperation as the key to seizing drugs and combatting criminal organizations. Apart from drugs, Deputy Police Director Alonso Vega discussed other feats made by the Panamanians during 2017 to include cash, weapon and boat seizures as well as the confiscation of drug production equipment.

Panama’s drug seizures are even more impressive when compared to those of neighboring countries. For example, Costa Rica is also working hard to thwart drug trafficking and in recent years, has made strides but the numbers do not compare. For example, Costa Rica seized 12.14 metric tons of cocaine in 2012, 15.1 in 2015, 25 in 2016, and 29.8 in 2017 according to the country’s Ministry of Public Security. Drug seizures in Costa Rica are significantly less than those in Panama, but it is important to take into account that Costa Rica is 1 of 22 countries in the world that does not have a military. Because of this, they must fight their internal drug issues with limited resources such as the Coast Guard, the National Police Force and the National Drug Police.

Excessive drug passage through Panama and Costa Rica is a direct result of the fact that they are both transit countries for the largest drug producers in South America to include Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. The excerpted article from Univision notes that Colombian authorities made the largest cocaine bust in the country’s history when they seized 12 metric tons on 8 November 2017. This seizure occurred in a banana-growing region of the northwest Antioquia Province, near Colombia’s border with Panama.

Some in Panama believe the success in seizing record amounts of cocaine can be attributed to extensive training provided to both SENAN and SENAFRONT members by partner nations, including the United States and Colombia. Local security forces also conduct tactical and weapons training with neighboring Colombia and Guatemala, as well as with other countries, all with the end goal of achieving enhanced success in counter-drug operations. Panama is also proactive in enhancing regional interoperability and in 2016, hosted UNITAS, an exercise that focused on maritime exercises and in-port training as discussed in the excerpted article from La Estrella de Panamá. What is certain is that Central America is a key transit region for cocaine from South America, but countries such as Panama are taking a proactive approach in seeking out training and working with their neighbors to thwart this issue as best they can. End OE Watch Commentary (Fiegel)

 “During 2017, Panamanian authorities seized a record breaking 84.6 metric tons of cocaine.”
 Source: “Panama rompe récord de incautación de droga en lo que va del 2017 (Panama Breaks Record of Drug Bust in 2017)”, La Patilla, 27 December 2017. https://www.lapatilla.com/site/2017/12/27/panama-romperecord-de-incautacion-de-droga-en-lo-que-va-del-2017/
During 2017, Panamanian authorities seized a record breaking 84.6 metric tons of cocaine surpassing the 72 metric tons seized in 2017. In addition to drugs, authorities also seized more than $6,000,000 million dollars, 113 weapons, 56 boats, 253 vehicles and 1,000 glass tanks that were used to manufacture crystal meth. In addition, 147 people were arrested on drug smuggling charges.
Source: “12 toneladas de cocaína: la mayor incautación de drogas en la historia de Colombia (12 Tons of Cocaine Seized in Biggest Drug Bust in Colombia’s History)”, Univision, 09 November 2017. https://www.univision.com/noticias/narcotrafico/12-toneladas-de-cocaina-lamayor-incautacion-de-drogas-en-la-historia-de-Colombia
President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia announced the seizure of 12 metric tons of cocaine; the largest amount to ever be seized in the country. This shipment allegedly belonged to the Clan del Golfo and had a reported market value of $360 million. It was found buried underneath four farms in a banana-growing region located in the Antioquia province, near Colombia’s border with Panama.
 Source: “Panamá, sede de la operación Unitas 2016 (Panama Hosts Unitas 2016)”, La Estrella de Panamá, 19 September 2017. http://laestrella.com.pa/panama/nacional/panama-sede-operacion-unitas-2016/23961676
Naval forces from 13 countries in Central, South American and the Caribbean participated in Panama Unitas 2016 to include Panama, the United States, Honduras, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador and Peru. Five others joined as observers to include Guatemala, Costa Rica, the United Kingdom, Belize and the Dominican Republic. This exercise focused on training military forces to counter drug trafficking, human trafficking and illegal fishing.
  • Share
  • History
  • More
  • Cancel
Related
Recommended
Click to hide this icon and message
Select Your Language
  • Support
  • /
  • Hotline: Help Desk 808-472-7855
  • /
  • Privacy
  • /
  • Terms
  • Powered by All Partners Access Network