Panama governor stopped in car with 79 drug parcels
Wednesday September 16, 2020
Police in Panama says they have detained two Panamanian nationals who were travelling in a car carrying 79 packets of illegal drugs.<br>Local media have identified one of the detained as the governor of Guna Yala, Erick Martelo. He has since been removed from office.<br>The police said they had been acting on a tip-off and stopped the car in the early hours of Tuesday at a roadblock.<br>They found the drugs stashed underneath the seats.<br>Panamanian President Nito Cortizo wrote on Twitter [in Spanish] that he was "committed to a zero-tolerance policy towards any behaviour which goes against the ethics that all public servants have to adhere to".<br>So far, there has been no comment from Mr Martelo or anyone representing him.<br>Guna Yala is located on Panama's Caribbean coast and is home to the indigenous Guna people.<br>In the south, it borders with Colombia and its long coastline has long been used by cocaine traffickers to smuggle their goods north.<br clear="all">
