crime

Police find drug lab in Calle Uruguay building

The apartment had been used to grow marijuana plants for about a year, police said.

LA PRENSA /Noriel Gutierrez

home grown:Thousands of dollars worth of marijuana was confiscated from a building on Calle Uruguay.1053464

A clandestine drug laboratory, located inside an apartment building on Calle Uruguay, was raided by police yesterday.

The raid led to the arrest of two Panamanians and the seizure of thousands of dollars worth of marijuana plants.

Drug prosecutor José Abel Almengor said that the laboratory included several high-powered artificial ultraviolet lights that helped the marijuana plants grow more quickly. The plants were kept in four air-conditioned rooms. Police also found a large amount of fertilizer, potting soil and other gardening items.

While some of the marijuana plants were being grown in soil, there were also plants being grown hydroponically, or in nutrient-enriched water.

The two Panamanians arrested were allegedly in charge of maintaining the plants. A Colombian man, whom police say was the organizer of the criminal enterprise, remains at large. The names of those arrested were not released by police.

The apartment was located on the third floor of the Twin Towers building. Police have conducted numerous sweeps in the nearby area for drug dealers, as the area is a hotspot for such activities because of the number of bars and discos there.

Almengor said this was a method of drug manufacturing that has never before been seen in Panama. The administrators of the building reported that the apartment was rented a year ago to the two Panamanians for $900 a month.

The building's security guard told police that the tenants always wore dark sunglasses when they entered the building, and that they never stayed overnight. During a police interview, the two detainees told police that the marijuana grown in the building was both exported and sold locally.