There are more than 180 gangs in Panama, and that is the reality. They are concentrated in San Miguelito and Colón, a district and a Caribbean province respectively, located near the Panamanian capital, the police chief stated in an interview with local television. In this world, two major criminal groups stand out, operating in San Miguelito and Colón, and are driving the homicide rate as part of a dispute that includes 'recruiting' new members, according to Fernández. There are now more than 180 gangs in Panama, linked to drug trafficking, and the two main ones are driving homicidal violence, said this Thursday the director of the National Police (PN), Jaime Fernández. Panamanian authorities attribute gangs to at least 70% of homicides recorded in the country, which totaled 593 in 2025, 2% more than the previous year. 'In recent weeks, there has indeed been a rebound in the issue of homicides (...) there is a marked fight between two important gangs, which are the ones seeking spaces,' he added, without giving figures. Rather, they are dedicated to drug trafficking and contract killing or sicariato. That drug was potentially to be taken to the ports of that province to contaminate containers. On the other hand, the other seizures carried out by the authorities, of much lesser magnitude, point to payments or 'tumbes' (robberies between traffickers), which has increased the level of violence, he added. According to investigations, payments with drugs can represent between 7% and 10% of the total for the job, the police chief specified. Panama seized 129 tons of drugs in 2025 and 47.8 tons of chemical precursors, according to statistics from the Public Ministry (Attorney General's Office). Gangs in Panama do not have the aesthetic of the MS-13 and Barrio 18 maras that operate in El Salvador, Honduras or Guatemala, and which are considered terrorist organizations by the United States, nor do they base their business mainly on extortion. 'We are reinforcing in the areas with new units (agents) and vehicles (...) just as crime mutates, we are also changing in the Police to face it,' he assured. Gangs in Panama are operators of drug trafficking, in charge of moving the shipments that arrive from the south of the continent and are destined for the United States and Europe. Part of that work is paid with drugs, reiterated Fernández, which is why the Police is deploying a whole plan not only to achieve major seizures but also to attack 'head-on' the micro-trafficking in the country. 'In the last ten days, we have made seizures on the mainland of more than two tons of illicit substances,' affirmed the director of the Police, who specified that in a single operation in Colón, almost 1.3 tons were seized in a house that was a storage center.
