In the largest drug bust so far this year, authorities decommissioned 2,447 kilos of cocaine after an intense chase yesterday morning in Colon. Panama’s National Aeronaval Service pursued a 44-foot speedboat from the Santa Isabel-Isla Grande area until it flipped out of the water and onto a house in Puerto Pilon. No one was...
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American Airlines announced extended service to Texas in celebration of its two decades in Panama. Due to the success of the past few years, the airline is increasing the frequency of flights to Dallas on Monday, Thursday and Sunday, said Patty Andrade, CEO of American Airlines in Panama. American Airlines has also not ruled...
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The South Korean consortium Samsung S.A. filed a complaint with the evaluation commission charged with deciding which companies will build five hospitals in Panama’s interior. Manuel Batista, the company’s legal representative, explained that the claim was submitted yesterday because the commission did not validate the consortium’s 2009 financial statements since they were in Korean....
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On July 1, the government’s fiscal reform goes into effect and shoppers will pay two percent more in personal property and service transfer tax. Opponents to the reform have argued that the new seven percent tax will increase the economic burden of basic goods and services and increase inflation, but the Ministry of Economy...
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Panama’s guest of honor this week, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, will be staying in the country’s most expensive hotel suite. The Sheraton Hotel confirmed that Berlusconi will be the first guest of its newly remodeled presidential suite priced at $1,500 per night. The room has its own kitchen, dining room with seating for...
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Sigmund Andrew Eisenschenk, a U.S. investor, filed a criminal complaint with the Public Ministry against the Cano family yesterday for allegedly swindling him on a piece of property in Pedasi belonging to former president Mireya Moscoso. The Canos, representing a non-existent company called Maria Chiquita, reportedly accepted over $1 million from Eisenschenk for a...
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More and more farmers in Panama are cultivating culantro coyote. Maribel de Barrios, Regional Director for the Agriculture Market Institute in western Panama confirmed that culantro coyote cultivator numbers are indeed on the rise. Ministry of Agricultural Development figures show that more than 74 producers are growing more than 74 acres in Chepo, Chiriqui,...
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A Spanish judge put Inmoptions, the commercial branch of Grupo Mall, the developer of the Los Faros de Panama project, in involuntary bankruptcy today. The petition filed late last year by Barcelo, a Spanish tourism company, claimed that the promoter owed them €2.8 million or $3 million in transportation fees. The developer has said that Inmoptions will...
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Panama’s former presidential plane will be auctioned off on June 30th. The Gulfstream HP-1691 has a Rolls Royce motor, BF Goodrich brakes, and Collins-model communication and navigation equipment, according to auction details. Panama acquired the forty-year-old plane in 1995 for $7.3 million during the Ernesto Perez Balladares administration. Maintenance proved difficult and costly for...
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On Monday morning, Kimberly Nicole Grant, a United States citizen, arrived to Panama’s Tocumen International Airport carrying 55 cocaine tablets. She had intended to board a flight to Orlando, Florida, but police officers in the terminal noticed her nervous behavior and found the cocaine strapped to her body and in a little bag she...
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