Couple Busted At Tocumen With $1 Million in Cash


News from Panama / Wednesday, February 20th, 2013

As the drugs go north, the cash comes south with the mules hired to try to smuggle it through Panama.  This bust was the biggest so far.  Thanks and a hat tip to Don Winner at the Panama Guide for the story.

Panama’s National Police seized more than a million dollars that had not been declared by a Guatemalan couple at the Tocumen International Airport upon arrival from their country, a police source said today.

The Guatemalan couple, whose identity was not released, arrived in Panama on Wednesday morning, and they claimed in their declaration to be tourists with $75,000 in cash, but they had a suspicious attitude that led the police officers to stop them to be interviewed, the source said.

When their statements did not match up, their luggage was examined, and they were found to have a double bottom with million dollars spread among their bags.

The couple, who requested the services of a lawyer, is currently detained while investigations are carried out to determine the origin of the money.

According to police, this is the first seizure of more than a million dollars in cash at the Tocumen airport so far in 2013. (Critica)