Since that incident occurred, suspected links to drug trafficking had already been pointed out. This Thursday, the eight suspects will be presented before a guarantees judge, who must determine if their apprehensions were legal, charge them with drug-related crimes, and set the precautionary measure they will face while the Public Prosecutor's Office advances the investigation. The accused—five Panamanians and three Colombians—were apprehended this Wednesday following 26 search and raid warrants carried out by the Drug Prosecutor's Office and the National Police in Panama and West Panama. Panama—Handcuffed and well-custodied, this Thursday morning César Caicedo arrived at the headquarters of the Accusatory Criminal System in Plaza Ágora, to face the guarantees hearing against him for his alleged involvement in an international drug trafficking network. Like Caicedo, seven other men apprehended in the new phase of Operation Nodriza were transferred to the judicial premises in white minibuses. The suspects entered quickly, handcuffed and without saying a word, most of them covering their faces with their shirts, escorted by two police units in civilian clothing and balaclavas. Caicedo is the father of Dayra Caicedo, the young woman who was deprived of her liberty on February 19 in front of her house in Vista Alegre, Arraiján. According to details provided yesterday by the National Police Director General, Jaime Fernández, the investigation against this organization began on March 7, 2023, and since then, it has been linked to seven cases, achieving the apprehension of 20 people, the seizure of two tons of cocaine, and the confiscation of 10 vehicles (three with double bottoms).
