Panama Hits ‘VIP’ Chinese Migrant-Smuggling Route Through Notorious Darien Gap
10th August 2024
In the latest indication that new President Jose Raul Mulino may be serious about his campaign pledge to end the country’s role as a major funnel of masses of illegal immigrants bound for the United States, Panamanian border police on Wednesday arrested 15 people linked to an illicit “VIP” migrant-smuggling operation that caters to Chinese clients, AFP reports. The detainees — who face 15 to 20 years in prison — are all Panamanian, but are accused of working for Colombian gangs.
While the Pan-American Highway stretches some 19,000 miles through South, Central and North America, there’s a 66-mile gap that starts just inside Colombia and stretches into Panama. That means migrants have to make a harrowing journey on foot through a mountainous and marshy region called the Darien Gap. They not only have to survive dangerous natural conditions, but also criminal gangs known to rape, murder, kidnap and rob them.