Murder In 2012, Panama had a murder rate of 17.2 per 100,000 population.
Kidnapping Panamanian authorities conducted a study which indicates that almost 90 percent of
express kidnappings are unreported due to the threat that thieves impose on the victim and relatives of the victim. The procedure of express kidnapping consist of abducting the victim and taking possession of valuables such as cellphones, watches, credit cards, cash and jewelry. Besides taking all of the victim's valuables, the kidnappers make the victim withdraw money from different ATM locations. Once the kidnapper is satisfied, the abducted person is usually released. In other cases, the kidnappers may ask for ransom money for the release of the victim. This long process of kidnapping is slowly decreasing, since most kidnappers want a quick payoff without complicated negotiations with relatives.
Illegal drug trade In the 1980's, Panama became an important connection for shipping narcotics to the US and other countries. The International Narcotics Control Strategy has reported that traffickers have smuggled narcotics through the country's uncontrolled transportation system, such as airfields, coastlines, containerized seaports and highways. The FARC (
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) has also contributed to the increase. Many of the FARC soldiers who seek shelter and refugee from Colombian Armed Forces cross the border between Darien and Colombia. Since the FARC arrived in Panama, drug trafficking has significantly increased. Waterways are being watched carefully by the Panamanian Naval Forces, but the FARC has adapted ways of smuggling narcotics across Panama by land. Panama's involvement in drug trafficking began as early as the beginning of the 20th century, when opium was trafficked through the Panama Canal on its voyage from Asia to Europe. In the 1960s Panama's involvement with drug trade was its production of cannabis, but by the 1980s it became one of the transit points for the drug trafficking of cocaine from South America to the United States thanks to its shared border with Colombia.
Manuel Noriega Although the relationship did not become contractual until 1967, Noriega worked with the U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from the late 1950s until the 1980s. In 1988 the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration indicted him on federal drug charges. The 1988 Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations concluded that "The saga of Panama's General Manuel Antonio Noriega represents one of the most serious foreign policy failures for the United States. Throughout the 1970s and the 1980s, Noriega was able to manipulate U.S. policy toward his country, while skillfully accumulating near-absolute power in Panama. It is clear that each U.S. government agency which had a relationship with Noriega turned a blind eye to his corruption and drug dealing, even as he was emerging as a key player on behalf of the
Medellín Cartel (a member of which was notorious Colombian drug lord
Pablo Escobar)." Noriega was allowed to establish "the hemisphere's first '
narcokleptocracy'". One of the large financial institutions that he was able to use to launder money was the
Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) which was shut down at the end of the Cold War by the FBI. Noriega shared his cell with ex-BCCI executives in the facility that is known as "Club Med". As a result of the 1989
invasion of Panama by the United States,
Manuel Noriega was removed from power, captured, detained as a
prisoner of war, and flown to the United States. Noriega was
tried on eight counts of
drug trafficking,
racketeering, and
money laundering in April 1992. Noriega's U.S. prison sentence ended in September 2007; pending the outcome of
extradition requests by both Panama and France, for
convictions in absentia for murder in 1995 and money laundering in 1999, respectively. France was granted its extradition request in April 2010. He arrived in
Paris on April 27, 2010, and after a re-trial as a condition of the extradition, he was found guilty and sentenced to seven years in jail in July 2010.
Robbery Robberies prevalent in Panama include armed robberies and muggings.
Domestic violence Domestic violence in Panama is a serious problem and remains underreported. Domestic violence, including
spousal rape,
psychological,
physical, and
economic abuse, are criminalized. Panama enacted
Ley No.38 del 2001 against domestic violence. In 2013, the country enacted Law 82 - Typifying Femicide and Violence Against Women (
Ley 82 - Tipifica el Femicidio y la Violencia contra las Mujeres) a comprehensive law against
violence against women. Authorities have increased public awareness about the prostitution of children through seminars in schools and an outreach campaign with the tourism sector, having been manifested in sending 300 letters to the tourism sector to raise awareness of commercial sexual exploitation of children. Despite such efforts, the government has showed little evidence of progress in combating human trafficking. Law enforcement efforts have remained weak, with the Panamanian penal code not prohibiting trafficking for
forced labor, and the government has failed to provide adequate assistance to victims and to identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations.
Child sex tourism is prohibited by law, though the aforementioned US Department of State report found no reported prosecutions of sex tourists during the reporting period. The U.S. State Department's
Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in
"Tier 2" in 2017 and 2023. In 2023, the Organised Crime Index noted that police officers colluded in organising this crime.
Prosecution Article 178 of the Panamanian penal code, which was updated in 2008, prohibits the internal and transnational movement of persons for the purpose of sexual servitude or forced commercial sexual activity. The prescribed sentence is four to six years imprisonment, which is increased to six to nine years if trafficking offenders use deceit, coercion, or retain identity documents, and is further increased to 10 to 15 years if the victim is under 14 years of age. Article 177 prohibits sexually exploiting another person for profit. Under aggravated circumstances of
threat, force, or
fraud, this constitutes human trafficking as defined by international protocol, and carries a sentence of eight to 10 years. Article 180 prohibits the internal and transnational trafficking of minors for sexual servitude, prescribing prison terms of eight to 10 years' imprisonment, and Article 179 prohibits subjecting an individual to sexual servitude using threats or violence. Prosecutors may also use other statutes, such as anti-
pimping laws, to prosecute trafficking crimes. The above punishments are commensurate with those prescribed for rape. Panamanian law, however, does not specifically prohibit human trafficking for the purpose of forced labor, including domestic servitude. Authorities have maintained a small law enforcement unit to investigate sex trafficking and related offenses, and Panamanian law requires that one prosecutor in each of Panama's
13 provinces be trained to prosecute trafficking crimes. One
prosecutor based in Panama City was dedicated exclusively to prosecuting trafficking crimes. Some judges received training on sex trafficking. ==By location==