Washington – Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Panama, in coordination with the local Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit (TCIU), in addition to HSI Operation Expanded Impact Costa Rica and the Government of Costa Rica, executed 20 arrest warrants and 23 search warrants that resulted in the arrest of 19 individuals, the seizure of several vehicles, and the rescue of 77 migrants, Dec. 13. The individuals rescued were from various countries enroute to the United States, including nationals from Colombia, Ecuador, India, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. The arrests included six employees of the migration service for Panama.
In November 2020, the HSI Panama TCIU received information from the Panama National Police (PNP) that a checkpoint located on the Panamerican Highway in Santa Maria, Divisa, Herrera, Panama, had stopped and arrested two Panamanian citizens attempting to smuggle three Cuban nationals. Subsequent interviews and questioning led to the identification of Eliani Muñoz Alcuria, who was later discovered to be a main coordinator for smuggling Cuban nationals through the Tocumen International Airport (PTY).
HSI Panama TCIU initiated an investigation and discovered this transnational criminal organization (TCO) of Cuban smuggling was highly complex. The TCO, which operates in Panama, managed to get clients to enter the country without meeting passport or visa requirements. The organization utilized various individuals and businesses to smuggle migrants to the province of Chiriquí and then transport individuals through other Central American countries with the ultimate intent of reaching the U.S.
Special agents were able to identify individuals and locations associated with the TCO – a Panamanian national known as Juan Manuel Nieto Marin was identified as another primary organizer. The organization relied heavily on Nieto Marin, a former Panamanian immigration official who worked at the PTY, for the mobilization and the stashing of irregular migrants.
