Categories: World

Panama launches Operation Shield to combat gangs, migrant smugglers at Colombia border

close Video

Fox News Flash top headlines for June 2

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com.

Panama launched a security operation along its shared border with Colombia on Friday to combat criminal gangs and migrant smugglers involved in record-setting migration through the perilous Darien Gap this year.

Security officials said Operation Shield is part of the agreement reached with the governments of Colombia and the United States in April to stop the flow of migrants through the border’s jungle-clad mountains.

Panama will use previously U.S.-donated helicopters to increase aerial patrols of the largely roadless region, but stressed that it was a Panamanian operation. The government will also send more special border police units into the area to try to root out the criminal gangs.

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES TRILATERAL DEAL WITH PANAMA AND COLOMBIA TO STOP DARIEN GAP MIGRATION

Haitian migrants rest as they cross the jungle of the Darien Gap, near Acandi, Choco department, Colombia, heading to Panama, on Sep. 26, 2021, on their way trying to reach the US. (Photo by RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP via Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Officials dismissed any suggestion of closing the border. It was the first visible example of the efforts promised by the three governments.

Last year, nearly 250,000 people crossed the Darien Gap, nearly double the 133,000 who crossed in 2021, and a new record. That increase was driven largely by Venezuelans, who accounted for some 60% of the migrants crossing there last year.

In April, the United Nations warned that the unprecedented number of crossings to start the year – six times as many during the same period last year — suggested that some 400,000 migrants could cross this year.

Share

Recent Posts

South Carolina spring break murder victim’s family awarded $700M in civil suit

close Video Miami Beach puts out reality TV-themed PSA to spring breakers Fox News correspondent…

23 minutes ago

Indiana cop charged after forcing daughter, 6, to stand in freezing cold with threatening sign

close Video Fox News Flash top headlines for March 15 Fox News Flash top headlines…

5 hours ago

Key witness in American college student’s disappearance has his passport seized

close Video Ted Williams says investigators ‘cannot rule anything out’ in search for missing college…

7 hours ago

Preacher doesn’t flinch as activist points apparent gun at his head

close Video Activist pulls apparent gun on San Francisco street preacher in broad daylight. San…

7 hours ago

Trump hit in the face with microphone, quips operator ‘became a big story’

close Video President Donald Trump is hit by a reporter's microphone while speaking with media…

7 hours ago

Florida teen tortured, killed by couple after dating app meetup: police

close Video Fox News Flash top headlines for March 14 Fox News Flash top headlines…

7 hours ago