PANAMA: SENAN SEIZES 2.5 TONS OF COCAINE IN GAME

C O N F I D E N T I A L PANAMA 000119 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/06/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL SNAR PM SUBJECT: PANAMA: SENAN SEIZES 2.5 TONS OF COCAINE IN GAME CHANGING OPERATION REF: PANAMA 00016 Classified By: Ambassador Barbara J. Stephenson for reasons 1.4 (c) and (d) -------------- Water Shed Operation -------------- ¶1. (C) Panama's National Aero-Naval Service (SENAN) police seized 2.46 tons of cocaine in a mangrove swamp February 1 that had been off-loaded from a go-fast vessel. The vessel had been hiding in the Lavaina river since January 28 after being trapped by SENAN vessels acting on information generated by DEA, and passed to the SENAN by Post TAT. Two SENAN vessels then stood watch at the mouth of the river for five days, while U.S. and SENAN aviation units and approximately 30 SENAN officers working on land searched for the vessel in some of the most difficult terrain in Panama, while maintaining constant communication and exchanging information with TAT. SENAN forces also seized an almost new go-fast vessel with three outboard engines near the cocaine. Commissioner Juan Vergara, the effective number two of the SENAN, went into the field and personally led the operation. ¶2. (C) On February 2 new information was passed to the SENAN and Panamanian National Police from DEA through TAT, indicating the possible location of three suspects. PNP and SENAN officers were able to locate, confirm, and arrest the three suspects, all Colombian males. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶3. (C) This is a watershed moment for the SENAN. For the last three years, the Panamanian Maritime Service (SMN),now merged with the National Air Service (SAN) into SENAN, was "unable and unwilling" to act effectively on the wealth of information of this kind passed from the TAT. With the appointment of Director Rigoberto Gordon (reftel),Post has seen numerous signs that the SENAN is willing to confront the institutional corruption that had turned it into a completely ineffective counter-narcotics force. Gordon has limited the sharing of information to a small core of trusted officers, of which Vergara is the most important, and has pulled together the functional forces he has to create an operational unit within the SENAN. This bust is a stunning success for Gordon, and an indication of the importance of leadership and will in creating effective maritime interdiction forces. Post will continue to partner with the SENAN, and push for continued institutional strengthening of the organization. Given Panama's critical position on current littoral drug trafficking routes, a strong, effective SENAN could represent a significant change in the balance of forces. STEPHENSON