Four tonnes of cocaine seized in Panama

Panama City, Sep 26 (IANS/EFE) Panamanian authorities seized about four tonnes of cocaine at a hideout along the Caribbean coast, 24 hours after confiscating three tonnes of the drug, an official spokesperson has said.

The drugs were seized by the National Aeronaval Service, or Senan, Friday near the mouth of the Belen river, almost 300 km northwest of Panama City and near the site of the first seizure at the mouth of the Concepcion river, Senan spokesman Vladimir Rodriguez said Saturday.

He said that 4,926 packets of cocaine were seized at the mouth of the Belen river near the port city of Colon.

Rodriguez said the latest operation was the continuation of another carried out Thursday in the central province of Veraguas, some 300 km northwest of Panama City.

Authorities seized three tonnes of cocaine Thursday after a chase in which the occupants of a speedboat abandoned the vessel and remain at large, Rodriguez said.

Panama has seized 79 tonnes of illegal drugs so far this year, he said.

–IANS/EFE