Drug / Narco Trafficking, Anti-Drug Operations

[Bud]

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New anti-drug task force for Panama

Posted on July 26, 2016 in Panama

Post Views: 140

A NEW  anti-drugs   task force is being created in Panama following the recent success of a “combined operations”   swoop involving the participation of more than 200 agents from a number of regional agencies

At a meeting of the Security Council in Cocoli on Monday, July 25, President Juan Carlos Varela , said that the force will be aimed at stopping drug trafficking by working with regional partners.

Varela said that agents will be hand-picked for the new entity from existing security forces.

The decision by Varela was made after the success of “Operation Shield,” which. The operation targeted drug trafficking along Panama’s borders.

This operation involves offices from the police, Immigration, the aero-naval agency Senan, Border Patrol and Institutional Protection Services.

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/new-anti-drug-task-force-panama

[JudyS]

Another War on Drugs?  That's worked really well in the U.S.

[JohnF13]

It isn't something that can be stopped.  "Success" will likely be defined as one or two medium busts a year, allowing the majority of drugs to get through.  Likely there will be a lot of collateral damage, in that street dealers or recreational users will be targeted to bring the numbers up.  

[Keith Woolford]

Panama already busts a lot of drugs 'going through', over 32 metric tonnes in the first half of 2016.

http://elsiglo.com/panama/32-toneladas-drogas-decomisadas-400-detenidos-panama-este/23949429

[JohnF13]

In all likelyhood Keith, that is a fraction of what goes through. 

 

[Keith Woolford]

On 7/29/2016 at 6:40 AM, JohnF13 said:

In all likelyhood Keith, that is a fraction of what goes through. 

 

No doubt about that John, but these are still massive quantities of this stuff which is pure and probably has a worth of at least $100 per gram at the end of the chain. The numbers are staggering

32 tonnes = 32,000 kilograms

32,000 kilograms = 32,000,000 grams

32,000,000 grams x $100 = $3,200,000,000

That's in six months.

As with everywhere else, the real damage to Panama is done when drugs get dropped off here on the way through cause violence among the gangs who fight to control the local trade.

The Ministry of Security's PR department was busy Tweeting this afternoon.

 

 

On 7/29/2016 at 6:40 AM, JohnF13 said:

In all likelyhood Keith, that is a fraction of what goes through. 

 

 

[JohnF13]

I have been on the "other end" of the war on drugs, the street level sellers and their dealers.  It is (for me anyway) a societal problem that cannot be solved by police interdiction.  It is pretty obvious to any thinking person now that President Reagans  "war on drugs" is a complete failure.  Addiction and use rates are forever climbing and the introduction of synthectics has just made the problem worse.  I was reading an article recently on synthetic Cannabis and the problems with regulating it.  In a nutshell, it is sold openly in corner stores because it is not deemed an illegal substance.  This is due to the fact that the producers are always tweaking the formulae and each new iteration needs investigation and subsequent legislation.  Not a speedy response!  

I have seen the damage Heroin and crack causes and it is a major concern.  However, as I stated above, the "war" is lost.  Time to try another tack.  I don't know the answers, but I think a good start would be to seperate "recreational" drugs such as Cannabis and mushrooms from the more dangerous (from a health point of view) harder drugs.  I have not seen that so-called "soft drugs" are a gateway to harder stuff, that is just a politician's position with little basis in fact.. Governments need to adress the societal issues such as why people take drugs and what can be done to divert them away.  At the same time, a lessening of the severity of punishments is sorely needed - with maybe the exception of the actual smugglers and others high on the drug heirarchy.  ( just re read that, lousy pun!) 

Getting Governments to change is difficult, it will take a massive effort on the part of the population, whicever Country they are in.  A good example is the current attitude towards Cannabis, it is changing very quickly now and I predict it will be a normal alternative to alcohol in the near future.  The harder stuff?  I really do not know.  

Enough for now, Jocie needs her second cup of coffee in bed!

[JohnF13]

Just thought a bit more about this while waiting for coffee.  I think my personal approach is "if you can grow it in your back yard then it is pointless to legislate against it".  I know that can include both Cocaine and Heroin so my belief can be properly attacked and debated but I am a pragmatist.  If it can be grown in the back forty, it cannot be stopped.  So let's change our approach and deal with the resulting problems.  Decriminalising "natural" drugs is unlikely to lead to an epidemic, those that want them will get them, those that don't, won't.  

The big danger is chemicals.  Those things are just nasty.

[Keith Woolford]

Here's a report of a big haul close to home out on Punta Burica. 1200 packages of cocaine, each of which weighs 2 kilos.

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The Panamanian authorities informed this Saturday 6 August on the confiscation of 1, 200 packages of alleged drug known as cocaine in Punta Burica, to the west of the province of Chiriqui.

In the operation is also seized a boat and two outboard motors. So far there are no detainees.

The action was developed by staff of the Office of the special prosecutor for drug-related crimes of the third judicial district of Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro, in conjunction with the Naval Air National Service.

The Office of the Prosecutor announced that will continue with the investigations into this case.

 

[Bud]

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Drug kingpin jailed after10-year wait

Posted on August 17, 2016 in Panama

Post Views: 113

TEN YEARS  after he was arrested in Brazil,  a Panama court has sentenced   Pablo Rayo Montano to nine years in prison for money laundering related to drug trafficking.

According to prosecutors, the defendant was part of a criminal groups that trafficked drugs, weapons and laundered money in Panama, Colombia, the United States and Guatemala.

Among his criminal activities was arms trafficking for Colombian guerrillas, a networked that was dismantled in 2002. He was also accused of smuggling millions of dollars from Colombia into Panama.

The prosecution said the group led by Rayo Montaño arrived in Panama in 1996, and  fell after five of his brothers were arrested in Colombia.

For his operations he  required front companies  without his name appearing.

This created five cells. The first was dealing drugs and weapons to Colombian guerrillas and was dismantled in 2002 in an  operation called Estero. The second brought to Panama from Colombia millions in cash inside aircraft.

The third cell trafficked drugs from Colombia in speedboats. The fourth sent money from Panama to Guatemala, and the fifth facade created companies in Panama to launder money. For this he had the cooperation of Panamanians and Colombians.

It is estimated that his network also smuggled some 52 tons of drugs, namely cocaine and heroin, into the United States

Rayo Montano was arrested in Brazil in 2006. He was originally held in the El Renacer prison, but transferred to La Joyita in 2010.

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/9-years-jail-10-year-wait

[Bud]

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US funded anti-crime studies questioned

Posted on September 7, 2016 in Latin America, Panama

Post Views: 75

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new paper from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) questions the findings of one of the only studies to measure the impact of Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) anticrime programs.

The CEPR paper, “Have US-Funded CARSI Programs Reduced Crime and Violence in Central America?” by David Rosnick, Alexander Main, and Laura Jung, examines data collected during a Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) study and subjects them to a number of statistical tests. CEPR finds problems with the methodology used and that the study cannot support the conclusion that the areas subject to treatment in the CARSI programs showed better results than those areas that were not.

“Unfortunately, the study does not demonstrate a correlation between anticrime treatment and actual crime reduction outcomes,” Rosnick, an economist and computer scientist, said. “This is especially important considering ongoing congressional debates over funding support to Honduras and other countries, and the prevalence of crime in pushing people to flee the Northern Triangle countries of Central America.”

The study by the Vanderbilt University-based LAPOP is, to date, the only publicly accessible impact assessment of programs carried out under CARSI, a US government initiative that has received over a billion dollars in US funding. The CEPR paper attempts to evaluate the success of USAID-funded anticrime programs in Central America under CARSI, and identifies major problems with the LAPOP study, namely, the nonrandomness of the selection of treatment versus control areas and how the differences in initial conditions, as well as differences in results between treatment and control areas, have been interpreted. The paper notes that in the case of reported robberies, if the areas subject to treatment have an elevated level of reported robberies in the year prior to treatment, it is possible that there is some reversion to normal levels over the next year. The LAPOP methodology does not differentiate between effective treatment and, for example, an unrelated decline in reported robberies in a treated area following a year with an abnormally high number of reported robberies.

The CEPR paper finds that, given these faults with the methodology used, the study cannot support the conclusion that the areas subject to treatment in the CARSI programs showed better results than those areas that were not.

The paper notes that in some treatment areas, “Statistically, the possibility that intervention had no effect on reported robberies cannot be ruled out.”

Taxpayer dollars
“Hopefully more studies will be undertaken to examine how effectively US taxpayer dollars are being used to address very serious issues of crime in Central America,” Rosnick said. “Unfortunately, the only publicly accessible assessment available so far offers very little that’s useful for making such an evaluation.”

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/latin-america/us-funded-anti-crime-studies-questioned

[Moderator_02]

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Drones ferrying cocaine to Panama

Posted on November 17, 2016 in Latin America

Post Views: 191

THE LATEST  method of transporting drugs to Panama was discovered by the Colombian Police on Tuesday Nov 15.

Police units captured  a drone used by drug traffickers to send small cargoes of cocaine from a jungle region to Panama.

It  was discovered in an anti-drug operation near the town of Bahía Solano, in the jungle department of El Chocó.

The investigators   seized 130 kilos of cocaine that were buried on the beach near the village of Bahía Solano, along with  the parts of an aircraft, which were ready to be assembled, said, regional police commander General Jose Acevedo.

“The drone was used to carry the cocaine to Panama, it had  the capacity to transport 10 kilos on each trip and to cover a distance of 100 kilometers,” said the official.
Top producer
Colombia is one of the world’s leading producers of cocaine.
It has the capacity to manufacture 646 metric tons annually of the drug, according to the United Nations, the majority of which is exported to the United States and Europe by different routes, including the countries of Central America.
Acevedo said the drug they seized belonged to the Gulf Clan, considered Colombia’s largest criminal gang dedicated to drug trafficking, illegal mining and considered as one of the main threats to Colombia’s security.
The drug traffickers have used cans of food, handicrafts, agricultural products and even “mules” who ingest the drug in latex bags and then expel them.

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/latin-america/drones-ferrying-cocaine-panama

[Keith Woolford]

Major Bust.

Major Alex Ivan Cedeño, head of the Border Unit of the National Police, was fired and charged with a number of drug trafficking offenses.

http://www.prensa.com/judiciales/Juez-Policia-Nacional-Ivan-Cedeno_0_4621787814.html

Edited November 18, 2016 by Keith Woolford

[MarieElaine]

If marijuana is legalized here in Panama, I wonder what percentage of drug trafficking will disappear?  As I understand from the articles above, cocaine seems to be a major problem due to our proximity to Columbia.  Does the Columbian government cooperate with Panama in this crackdown?  Having worked with speed addicted young people in the 60's, I have to agree with the opinion that the addict will always find a way to get what they need and there will always be someone to take advantage of that need.

[Keith Woolford]

Panama is a major logistics point and conduit for massive amounts of cocaine heading north by air, land, and sea. The 'silver or lead' negotiating tactics of cartel kingpins continues to corrupt high level officials.

Local gangsters kill each other over turf to sell scraps of low grade cocaine and marijuana.

[Moderator_02]

Apologies for the late posting of this news article from mid-December. It was just brought to our attention. The highlighting in the below text is of my doing, not part of the original article. Note that those statistics are in metric tons, not pounds or kilograms [a metric ton is a unit of weight equal to 1,000 kilograms (2,205 lb)]. Wow! And finally, these statistics are for seizures in Panama, not worldwide. Ouch.

 

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Panama's Record Drug Seizures Reflect Colombia's Cocaine Boom

Written by Mimi Yagoub

Friday, 16 December 2016

 

10inSeized drugs in Panama

Authorities in Panama say they have seized more drugs in 2016 than in any other year since 2000, and soaring cocaine production in neighboring Colombia may be the most likely explanation behind this rise.

As of December 13 [2016], authorities had intercepted 62.3 metric tons of cocaine and marijuana -- 7 percent more than last year's total and nearly 60 percent more than in 2014. It also represents the highest annual drug seizure figure since the turn of the century, the Public Security Ministry announced.

Cocaine made up the vast majority -- nearly 90 percent -- of the seized drugs in 2016, at 55.5 metric tons.

"This was made possible through...more efficient operations, better teams and due to the strategies that we have established in the fight against drug trafficking," Public Security Minister Alexis Bethancourt said.

The minister praised the results of Operation Shield that ran from May to June 2016, when authorities seized 3 metric tons of cocaine and arrested 300 people suspected of ties to drug trafficking.

He also applauded Operation Homeland, a one-month operation carried out at the end of 2015 which saw the seizure of $1.8 million in cash, and numerous arrests and drug interdictions.

InSight Crime Analysis

As is often the case with drug seizures, Panama's record figures could be the result of a variety of dynamics. While stepped-up efforts by the security forces may be part of the answer, it's likely that higher seizures are also the product of an increase in cocaine passing through the country.

Colombia is the world's largest cocaine producer, and Panama has historically been its gateway for drugs heading up to the United States. According to the US State Department's most recent estimates, up to 90 percent of all cocaine entering the country passes through the Central American corridor.

Given its geographic location, Panama is bound to be affected by Colombia's ongoing explosion in coca crops. Cultivation have soared to double the 2013 levels, and this has been accompanied by record cocaine seizures in the Andean country.

What's more, officials from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recently told InSight Crime that there are indications that Colombian criminal groups known as "BACRIM" -- which are largely responsible for the country's transnational drug trafficking -- have been increasing their presence on the Panamanian border over the past year.

The home base of Colombia's most powerful BACRIM, the Urabeños, is right along this border region, and the group has long used the Caribbean coast as a departure point for illegal drugs. Despite a large-scale police operation against the Urabeños, a number of huge seizures linked to the group prove that they still have an impressive operational capacity on the drug trafficking front. 

Panama's changing security strategy could also be partly responsible for the record seizures. President Juan Carlos Varela has responded to rising production in Colombia by announcing that interdiction efforts would be bolstered, and the government has allocated funds to set up a new Special Anti-Narcotics Unit.

http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/panama-record-drug-seizures-reflect-colombia-cocaine-boom

[Moderator_02]

http://www.prensa.com/in_english/Varela-solicita-Santos-esfuerzos-narcotrafico_21_4684241536.html

[Moderator_02]

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Six tons of cocaine seized in Panama

Posted on March 25, 2017 in Panama

Manzanillo

Post Views: 268

THREE  of  the six tons  of cocaine seized  in  Panama, in the first two months of the year,   were   discovered in the ports of Balboa and Manzanillo, bound for Europe according to Eduardo De La Torre the public prosecutor specialized in drug related offenses.

At a  March 24 press conference,  De La Torre said that the  six tons represents an increase compared to the five tons  seized in  the same period last year. 2016.

400 kilos of marijuana, and 25 kilos of stone or crack were also seized.

The prosecuors report says  that 306 cases of drug-related offenses were filed before the courts,

The greatest number of arrests in drug-related offenses were in the 18 to 30 age group.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/six-tons-cocaine-seized-panama

[Moderator_02]

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Aeronaval Service seizes 971 drug packs

Posted on April 22, 2017 in Panama

Post Views: 151

A TOTAL of 971 packages believed to contain drugs were seized on a beach in Santa Clara on the weekend by the  National Aeronaval Service  (Senan).

During a patrol on the night of Friday, April  21 Saturday, 448 packages were found in a Ford Explorer on a road leading to the  La Pacora beach.

The following morning a stash of 523 package’s was discovered on the beach.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/aeronaval-service-seizes-971-drug-packs

[Moderator_02]

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5.5 tonnes of cocaine seized from Panama ship

Posted on May 13, 2017 in Panama

20 arrested crewmwbeers and 5.5 rons of cocaine

Post Views: 138

PANAMA’S Maritime Authority (AMP) says  it will cooperate with Ecuador in investigating the seizure of 5.5 tons of cocaine by Ecuadorian authorities on a Panamanian flagged ship destined for Europe.

Seven Panamanians were among 20 people arrested.

Bulk carrier Kraken 1

The AMP “will cooperate with the Ecuadorian judicial authorities in the investigations they carry out related to the seizure of illegal substances carried out on the vessel KRAKEN I in Ecuadorian waters on Thursday, May 11,” said the Panamanian agency in a statement sent to Efe.

The cargo ship, was boarded  by agents of Ecuadorian narcotics, when it was three miles from the port of La Libertad, on Ecuador’s coast.

“The AMP reiterates that it strongly condemns any criminal activity that threatens human life, such as piracy, trafficking in persons or illicit substances. That is why it believes in strengthening and a coordinated and comprehensive approach between governments,” the statement said.

The Ecuadorian authorities reported that they found the 5.5 tons of cocaine on the Panamanian flag’s “big draft” boat and that they arrested 20 people, including a Spaniard  identified as David GM, the leader of an international  drug trafficking organization and 7 Panamanians.

The narco-trafficking organization, led by the Spaniard and a Colombian, operates in  various countries of America and Europe, transporting “large quantities of drugs from Ecuador and the countries of the region to the United States and Europe, using  bulk carriers or vessels of large  draft under an international flag ” said the statement.

“In this case a Panamanian  flagged ship named KRAKEN I, was  using s a façade the transport of ballast to Panama and later to Spain, specifically to the cartels of Galicia,” according to information from the Ministry of the Interior of Ecuador.

In addition to the Spaniard  19 people have been detained including    seven Panamanians. The rest were from  Colombia 5, nationality; Cubans2; and one from  Peru, 1 Venezuela, 1. Hondura 1, and 1 Arab, according to official Ecuadorian reports.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/5-5-tonnes-cocaine-seized-panama-ship

[Moderator_02]

http://www.prensa.com/in_english/Panama-apoyara-Ecuador-investigaciones-cocaina_21_4756234330.html

[Brundageba]

Boggles the mind.  Somewhere there are fields and fields of coca plants growing....like as far as the eye can see.  Now you can't hide that....yet this continues.   Another disturbing issue is the repeated occurrence of apparent assassinations and disappearances of young adults in the Paso Canoas area.  I suspect drug sales as the cause.

Edited May 16, 2017 by Brundageba

[Keith Woolford]

10 hours ago, Brundageba said:

Another disturbing issue is the repeated occurrence of apparent assassinations and disappearances of young adults in the Paso Canoas area. 

A body found over there has been identified as a 20-year old night school student, Omar Gonzalez Miranda. One report says he was killed for his new pair of shoes.

http://www.tvn-2.com/nacionales/provincias/Policia-hallado-Baru-desaparecido-viernes_0_4757524286.html

[Moderator_02]

11 hours ago, Brundageba said:

Boggles the mind.  Somewhere there are fields and fields of coca plants growing....like as far as the eye can see.  Now you can't hide that....yet this continues.   Another disturbing issue is the repeated occurrence of apparent assassinations and disappearances of young adults in the Paso Canoas area.  I suspect drug sales as the cause.

Brudageba,

Your posting is indeed interesting, both in content and timing. As we scan the various news feeds for relevant and interesting information to post here on CL we recently came across two such articles that were not posted. However, given your comments, we now are going to post them here. The general subject is the vast amount of land that is currently being used for, or land that is being converted to the growing of illicit drugs, and an option for stopping the misuse of the land.

---

 

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Drug money destroying swaths of forest in Central America – study

Tuesday 16 May 2017 00.01 BST Last modified on Tuesday 16 May 2017 14.15 BST

Cocaine traffickers’ efforts to launder profits by creating agricultural land results in loss of millions of acres, researchers say

A hillside in Jocotán, eastern Guatemala, damaged by deforestation. Photograph: Marvin Recinos/AFP/Getty Images

Cocaine traffickers attempting to launder their profits are responsible for the disappearance of millions of acres of tropical forest across large swaths of Central America, according to a report.

The study, published on Tuesday in the journal Environmental Research Letters, found that drug trafficking was responsible for up to 30% of annual deforestation in Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala, turning biodiverse forest into agricultural land.

The study’s lead author, Dr Steven Sesnie from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, said: “Most of the ‘narco-driven’ deforestation we identified happened in biodiverse moist forest areas, and around 30-60% of the annual loss happened within established protected areas, threatening conservation efforts to maintain forest carbon sinks, ecological services, and rural and indigenous livelihoods.”

The research, which used annual deforestation estimates from 2001 to 2014, focuses on six Central American countries – Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. It estimates the role of drug trafficking, as opposed to drug cultivation, in deforestation for the first time.

“As the drugs move north their value increases and the traffickers and cartels are looking for ways to move this money into the legal economy. Purchasing forest and turning it into agricultural land is one of the main ways they do that,” said Sesnie.

He said the US-led crackdown on drug cartels in Mexico and the Caribbean in the early 2000s concentrated cocaine trafficking activities through the Central American corridor.

“Now roughly 86% of the cocaine trafficked globally moves through Central America on its way to North American consumers, leaving an estimated $6bn US dollars in illegal profits in the region annually.”

This had led to the loss of millions of acres of tropical forest over a decade as drugs cartels laundered their profits, Sesnie said.

“Our results highlight the key threats to remaining moist tropical forest and protected areas in Central America,” he said, adding that remote forest areas with “low socioeconomic development” were particularly at risk.

The report calls for drugs and environment policy – nationally and internationally – to be integrated “to ensure that deforestation pressures on globally significant biodiversity sites are not intensified by … supply-side drug policies in the region”.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/16/drug-money-traffickers-destroying-swaths-forest-central-america

 

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Indigenous land rights key to stopping deforestation in Central America

Without their traditional land managers, conservation reserves in Central America are left vulnerable to corporate interests, report finds. Climate Home reports

Mexican youth volunteers preparing to plant trees at the UN Biodiversity Conference in Cancun, Mexico on 7 December. Photograph: Francis Dejon/Courtesy of IISD

Conservation reserves in Central America have shut indigenous peoples off from their traditional lands and driven deforestation, community leaders have told Climate Home.

Since revolution in the region started to wind down in the 1980s, there has been an internationally celebrated trend to create large conservation areas. Hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of forest have been placed within borders designed to protect them.

But according to a report released at a meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Mexico on Thursday, some of those areas have placed restrictions on the tribes who made their living in the forest through traditional, and what they say are sustainable, practices.

“The protected areas have had a terrible impact on our people,” said Norvin Golf, the president of a coalition of Miskito tribes from Honduras. “And when you look at the maps you can see it. It is clear that on lands that we manage, the forests are standing, and where there are protected areas and no people, there is invasion and destruction.

“By not recognising the indigenous peoples as owners of the protected areas, the government opens our territories to an invasion of people seeking to expropriate the land, destroy the forests, and turn our ancestral home into a source of money.”

Andrew Davis, who produced the report for the Primsa Foundation, said: “Commitments to indigenous peoples look good on paper, but when you travel to the protected areas in some countries, you see government agencies using the threat of arrest and sometimes even intimidation to prevent indigenous peoples from harvesting and using resources on lands they have been conserving for hundreds of years.”

In October, a study compared the health of forests in South America under indigenous management and those where tenure had not been granted. It found significantly decreased rates of deforestation.

“Indigenous people living in that area are really interested in keeping those areas well,” said Gustavo Sánchez, president of an umbrella organisation for indigenous and peasant groups in Mexico. “Because they are living there, they are living from products they get from the forests. The government don’t have the resources to make sure that this happens.”

A map, also released on Thursday, from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) found that indigenous communities in central America occupy an area of 282,000 sq km: five times the land area of Costa Rica.

“You cannot talk about conservation without speaking of indigenous peoples and their role as the guardians of our most delicate lands and waters,” said IUCN regional director Grethel Aguilar. “Where indigenous people live, you will find the best preserved natural resources. They depend on those natural resources to survive, and the rest of society depends on their role in safeguarding those resources for the wellbeing of us all.”

Mesoamerica, the cultural region spanning from central Mexico to Honduras, outperforms any other region when it comes to the number of tribes granted land tenure. This is partly because of the historical resilience of tribes in these areas, where they maintain a higher level of political clout than indigenous peoples elsewhere.

In many areas, this higher level of land tenure has translated into better access and protection. Victor Lopez, head of the Guatemalan Community Forestry Association, said the Maya Biosphere Reserve was an excellent example of the parallel paths of between cultural and environmental heritage.

But he said there were other cases in which conservation had compounded dispossession. He highlighted the Semuc Champey national monument, where thousands of tourists come to experience the wonder of the limestone structures along the Cahabón River – sacred to the local people.

Those traditional owners are barred from even entering the park and visiting their own religious sites, he said. Instead they watch the tourists as they file through. Local protests have lead to violence and police repression.

These conflicts are partly a historical legacy, Davis’s report found. Many of the reserves were created before the link between indigenous rights and conservation was established in the mainstream. But they are also the result of continuing failure on behalf of governments to consult, said Lopez.

“I cannot say that conservation has been successful [in general]. At these times that governments give back the rights to local people, it has been successful. But we have many conflicts around the country,” he said. “I am convinced that the main cause of that is the policy of creating in a very vertical and centralised way the protected areas without proper consultation and respectful involvement of local people, both indigenous and multicultural people.”

The Mexican, Guatemalan and Honduran governments did not respond to requests for comment.

Sánchez also said that there were many successful examples of integration between protected areas and indigenous people in Mexico. But that there were troubling examples of landowners being shut out. This includes the famed Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, where the migratory insects overwinter.

The report said that local communities in that area had been placed under tight restrictions and disqualified from their traditional practices of selective logging and are instead directed what crops to farm.

“The problem is that when indigenous people’s rights are taken away from the land that they are preserving and protecting they lose interest in protecting and conserving those areas. So you lose control of those areas of forest and the amount of personnel that the government has to protect those areas is not enough,” said Sánchez.

This gap in stewardship allows illegal loggers to operate, he said. Deforestation in the reserve tripled in recent years.

“By excluding us, the government allows the invasion of the lands, and the theft of the biodiversity they want to protect,” said Golf.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/09/indigenous-land-rights-key-to-stopping-deforestation-in-central-america

[Moderator_02]

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Big drug bust off Los  Santos

Posted on October 21, 2017 in Panama

 Post Views: 427

A SAILBOAT carrying 500 packages of drugs  60 miles off the coast of Los Santos was captured by Panama  National Police (PN)during an operation on Saturday, October 21.

César Zambrano,  Police  Deputy Commissioner in Los Santos confirmed that three people were arrested two of Spanish nationality and one Venezuelan.

A drug trafficking ring, centered in the mayor’s office was uncovered in Los Santos last month.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/big-drug-bust-off-los-santos