Panama Seizes Nearly a Ton of Drugs from Container

Panamanian authorities seized 936 packages of drugs (each weighing approximately one kilogram) from a container located in a maritime port near the entrance to the Pacific section of the interoceanic canal, after traveling by boat from Ecuador, officials reported this Monday. The Senan (National Aeronaval Service) stated that 936 packages of 'presumed drug from Ecuador in the Pacific anchorage, Panama' were seized. So far this year, Panamanian authorities have seized large drug shipments, such as 5,356 drug packages on January 17, when they intercepted a vessel in one of the islands of the Las Perlas Archipelago in the Panamanian Pacific, also by Senan agents. According to statistics from the Public Ministry, Panama seized 129 tons of drugs in 2025 and 47.8 tons of chemical precursors. Panama is a transit country for drugs produced in South America and destined for the United States—the world's largest consumer of cocaine—and Europe. The Panamanian Prosecutor's Office detailed on X that together with the National Aeronaval Service (Senan), 'it seized 936 rectangular packages with presumed illicit substance during a raid at the Port of Balboa,' located at the entrance to the Pacific of the Panama Canal. Much of that drug is found inside containers transported on large vessels. Neither authority specified the type of illicit substance or the destination of the seized shipment. The action, details the brief message from the Prosecutor's Office published on social media, 'was carried out on a vessel with a Maltese flag'.