BRIEFS: Crime

Growers test positive for marijuana use

Two men arrested in connection with the cultivation of some 200 marijuana plants in an apartment in the Twin Towers building on Calle 47 in Bella Vista have tested positive for marijuana use.

Police ordered the tests for Luis Sánchez Torrijos, a relative of President Martín Torrijos, and Milton Reyes to help them determine whether the men are indeed habitual consumers of marijuana who were growing the illegal herb for personal consumption, as they claimed, or were cultivating the plants for sale.

The results of the test could have a bearing on their sentences, if the men are found guilty of violating the law which prohibits the cultivation of seeds or plants used to produce illicit drugs.

Some of the plants were being grown hydroponically and with ultraviolet lights, a technique not seen before in Panama, according to prosecuting attorney José Almengor.

Nearly all of the plants confiscated by police were ready for harvesting, processing, and consumption, according to official sources. The prosecutor's office has estimated that the harvest would have yielded 500 pounds of marijuana.