judicial

Drug ring sting case in limbo

Víctor Arosemena/LA PRENSA

stalled: Defense lawyers for high-profile suspects linked to an alleged drug ring claim that the Ministerio Público has violated the Código Procesal Penal in keeping them behind bars.1072785

Nine months after officials with the Ministerio Público boasted of a sting operation in Chiriquí that cracked an alleged drug trafficking network operating throughout the country, authorities aren’t sure where the accused are being held, or which of them have been prosecuted.

A total of 82 persons were arrested in connection with the case, including 11 officials of the now defunct Policía Técnica Judicial (PTJ) and 15 officers of the Policía Nacional.

Because of the Ministerio Público’s mishandling of information concerning the detainees, defense lawyers warn that the prosecution’s case will face arguments that the prisoners’ constitutional rights and basic human rights have been violated.

One defense lawyer said that, in some cases, there are tomes of evidence pointing to the defendants’ innocence, “but unfortunately the Ministerio Público’s delays the case in order to keep them locked up.”

Meanwhile, several former members of the security agencies identified in the investigation insisted that public prosecutors are in a panic over presenting their case after several high-profile witnesses retracted their statements, claiming that they had been coerced.

Head drug prosecutor José Abel Almengor launched the investigation after the alleged bust last November, but a court decided on a change jurisdiction to Chiriquí, where proceedings stalled in the hands of Drug Prosecutor Javier Soriano over reasons of conflict of interest.