Panama Destroys Two Camps of the FARC’s Front 57

By Dialogo
April 02, 2012

Panamanian authorities destroyed two camps equipped to house 32 terrorists.

On March 28, Colombian Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzón and Panamanian Public Safety Minister José Raúl Mulino confirmed the destruction of two camps belonging to the drug-trafficking structures of the FARC’s Front 57 on the banks of the Tuquesa River in Panamanian territory, following an action by that country’s Armed Forces with intelligence information from Colombian authorities.

“This is the best demonstration that when collaboration between countries is activated, results are effectively produced, and that union of efforts succeeds in closing border spaces to terrorists and drug trafficking,” Minister Pinzón indicated.

For his part, Panamanian Public Safety Minister José Mulino affirmed that “this joint operation by the two countries should serve as an example and model for the entire region, one that can serve in Panama and Colombia but that can have an impact across the area, especially in Central America, a very fragile strip, a land with serious security problems and at the same time, a region with the transit of drugs looking to enter the northern market.”

The ministers announced that in other joint actions so far this year, three tons of cocaine have been seized and seven speedboats immobilized.

“This reflects the decision of the Governments to work together to prevent the activities of irregular groups that only seek to affect the populations of sister nations,” Minister Pinzón concluded.