He Ministry of Government (Mingob) This Friday, June 5, it added its second consecutive day of intense nationwide operations to try to contain the public security crisis caused by the massive escape of the La Joyita Penitentiary Center. The operations on the ground have forced an unusual alliance of the security establishments, incorporating the Institutional Protection Service (SPI) in the first line of tracking next to the Penitentiary System.
The head of the Government portfolio, Dinoska Montalvodirectly coordinates the actions from the early hours of the morning together with the general director of the SPI, Armando Kingand the director of the Penitentiary System, Jorge Torregroza. The deployment of the presidential guard on prison recapture duties confirms the seriousness of the scenario and the pressure on the Executive to locate those close to 29 people who still remain evaded from prison.
So far, the official balance consolidates the location of 166 of the 195 inmates who escaped on June 1. However, official statistics maintain an administrative limbo: four of the inmates counted voluntarily surrendered to the authorities, but as of midday yesterday they had not been formally reincorporated into the prison system, so their physical condition of actual confinement remains pending. The rest of the casualties from the original group include 163 recaptures and three deaths that the Public Ministry is investigating under the thesis of homicide.
The operations are concentrated with greater intensity in the rural and urban communities of the east of the province of Panama, where patrols of the National Police They carry out road blockades and vehicle inspections. Minister Montalvo defended the forcefulness of the joint operations after classifying the incident as “serious”.
“One that we are missing is one that is dangerous for the country and we are going to find them”the official warned in a clear admission of the highly dangerous profile of the fugitives, mostly linked to homicide and drug trafficking crimes. Montalvo also launched a call to urge the return of the escapees, ensuring that “The safest place they have at this moment is the penitentiary center”.
