5,900 liquid THC capsules seized in Clarita, Chepo; suspects flee
Panama's border service Senafront and prosecutors seized 5,900 cylindrical capsules of suspected liquid THC in Clarita, Chepo district, during Operación Manto Oscuro. Suspects carrying three sacks fled into the jungle when challenged, and authorities valued the shipment at 500,000 balboas.
🇵🇦 Clarita, Chepo, Panamá · Panama
Agencies
Ministerio Público, Servicio Nacional de Fronteras (Senafront)
Officers of Panama’s National Border Service and the Public Ministry intercepted
three sacks containing 5,900 golden cylindrical capsules filled with liquid in
Clarita, Chepo district.[1]Patrolling border service units ordered the
suspects carrying the sacks to halt, but they escaped and fled into the jungle.[1]Officers who initially suspected the sacks held cocaine consulted Colombian
counterparts, who advised that the substance appeared to be liquid marijuana for
medicinal or recreational use.[1]
Senafront general director Jorge Gobea stated that the absence of regulatory
markings indicated the containers came from clandestine laboratories.[1]Authorities estimated that the 5,900 capsules would have an illegal market value
of approximately 500,000 balboas.[1]Prosecutors sent samples to a laboratory
for forensic analysis to confirm the composition of the substance.[1]The
Public Ministry opened investigations to identify the criminal organisations
behind the shipment and determine its destination and intended use.[1]The
interdiction was carried out under Operación Manto Oscuro as part of the broader
Campaña Darién security effort.[1]
Photos and video
Panamanian authorities display the seized liquid THC capsules at a press conference. Photo: CortesíaPhoto details
Original
699 × 466 px · WEBP · 19 KB
SHA-256
bab541ad7ee88c8f…
Retrieved
11 Nov 2026
Shown
the publisher's file, through an image proxy
Source: La Estrella de PanamáSample of the liquid drug in cylindrical capsules seized during Operación Manto Oscuro. Photo: CedidaPhoto details
No weight in kilograms or liquid volume in millilitres was reported for the 5,900 capsules.
The suspected liquid THC was sent for laboratory analysis and had not been confirmed by forensic specialists when the reports were published.
The suspects who fled into the jungle were not identified or apprehended, and no arrests were made.
The exact date of the patrol was not stated beyond the weekend of 10-11 August 2024; 11 August 2024 is recorded as an approximate incident date.
The same article reports nine arrests in Chepo and Tortí under Operación Dealer, a separate microtrafficking operation left out here.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in La Prensa Panamá: Authorities made no arrests because securing the intercepted shipment was the officers' priority.
Left out arrested, as its quotation was not found in La Prensa Panamá.
Panama’s Senafront border service seized 914 rectangular packages of suspected marijuana in Playa Muerto, Darién, detaining two people. The operation also netted phones, GPS devices and a twin-engine boat, with detainees and evidence handed to prosecutors.
Interpol's six-week Operation Orca XI across 19 Latin American and Caribbean countries seized 38.5 tonnes of marijuana alongside other drugs and 3,308 illegal firearms, with more than 8,700 people detained. The marijuana was part of multi-drug seizures reported in 10 participating countries between 15 October and 30 November 2025.
Colombia's police director, general William Salamanca, announced on 26 November 2024 that a joint operation south of Isla Jicarón, Veraguas, had seized 1,184 kilos of marijuana and 704 kilos of cocaine from a Go-Fast boat. Three people described as Nicaraguan and Costa Rican were captured and handed to Panamanian authorities.
A court sentenced a man to 80 months in prison for cultivation and custody of marijuana seeds and plants under article 314 of the Penal Code, after police found 12 plants and 279 seeds in Los Santos.
