Panamanian justice delivered a major blow on Thursday by legalizing the apprehension and charging César Caicedo, the father of the kidnapped teenager Dayra Caicedo from February, with conspiracy and international drug trafficking.
The man, who recently appeared to the country as a collateral victim of crime, is now being pointed to by the Public Ministry as a central figure in the structure that moved cocaine shipments. Prosecutor Delfina Pino presented a detailed report of the investigation to the guarantees judge Josefa Monzante: seven documented criminal events since 2023, along with over 70 surveillance and tracking diligences that place Caicedo in key meetings where the logistics of reception, storage, custody, and transport of drugs were allegedly discussed.
Of these seven events, at least four directly implicate him, Pino stated. Judge Monzante found there were sufficient elements to legalize the apprehension, consider Caicedo charged with conspiracy, and proceed to the discussion of precautionary measures.
Half a ton and armored residences The prosecution made it clear that these surveillances were not sterile observation exercises; they resulted in a chain of confiscations totaling over half a ton of cocaine within this single investigative line. In the complete operation, which consolidates parallel investigations since March 2023, the figure exceeds two tons, with 10 vehicles seized, three with hidden compartments, three vessels, four firearms, and 26 raids carried out in recent hours.
The group, according to the Public Ministry, operated with its own manual: they used beach-access residential complexes in Vacamonte, in discrete areas with security checkpoints to receive shipments, hide them, and then move them in caravans to land and sea routes, the MP detailed.
No calls, but meetings The prosecution also revealed that the organization was advised not to discuss anything related to drug trafficking over the phone, which is why there are no wiretaps in the file. The defense presented this as a void; the prosecution responded that the meetings captured in surveillance are enough to sustain the conspiracy charge.
Pino also named two alleged leaders: a Colombian and a Panamanian, both connected to Caicedo in several of the monitored meetings.
Flight risk and maritime experience The Public Ministry requested provisional detention for the eight accused, five Panamanians and three Colombians, as they have the financial resources and maritime experience to evade the process or flee. The hearing was advancing into the night as the judge evaluated the arguments.
The inclusion of César Caicedo, whose daughter was the protagonist of one of the most talked-about kidnappings of the year, reopens unsettling questions about the connection between drug trafficking networks and violent events that recently occurred in Arraiján.
