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UNODC ROPAN and Ministry of Public Security hold First Regional Conference Against Drug Trafficking Networks

 Panama, April 10. - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Ministry of Public Security of Panama held in Panama City the First Regional Conference Against Drug Trafficking Networks.
The Director of Operations of UNODC Miwa Kato was present at this event that was inaugurated by the President of the Republic of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela and the Minister of Public Security, Jonattan Del Rosario.
In the opening remarks, Miwa Kato stressed that organized crime has a transnational component that crosses borders, which requires a coordinated response strategy.

He added that actions are urgently needed to counteract drug trafficking and organized crime, which prevents the region from achieving sustainable development.
This conclave arises as a result of the participation of the Panamanian leader in the Global Encounter on the Fight Against Crime, held in Vienna, Austria in 2018.
In his speech, the President of Panama stated that during his administration, Panama's commitment to the United Nations system and to the United Nations Office on Crime and Crime (UNODC), and especially the fight against organized crime.
For his part, Minister Del Rosario said that "nowadays, drug trafficking is not only one of the main causes of violence in Latin America, with a death toll greater than that of armed conflicts in the world, but which also constitutes one of the main threats of our democracies, whose institutions and social, economic and political structures, seem to be increasingly vulnerable to illicit flows of capital from drug trafficking networks and other transnational organized crime activities. "
The objectives of this conference were, among others, to share experiences among all the countries that are affected by the production, transit and consumption of drugs.
In addition to knowing the current status of drug trafficking networks and cooperative efforts to close ranks against this scourge.

During this meeting, Miwa Kato had the opportunity to hold bilateral meetings with the President of Panama Juan Carlos Varela, with the Minister of Security of Costa Rica Michael Soto Rojas and with Christian Salazar, Regional Director of the United Nations for Latin America and the Caribbean.
In addition, within the framework of this activity, the ministers of Public Security of Panama Jonattan Del Rosario and of Costa Rica, Michael Soto Rojas, signed two agreements on maritime security and aviation security, with the objective of combating drug trafficking and other criminal modalities of transnational crime with a comprehensive approach.
In this international conference also participated the Minister of National Defense of El Salvador, David Munguía Payes, as well as experts against the drug trafficking networks of nine other nations of Central America, South America, Europe and representatives of UNODC, who presented their experiences on crime high profile that affect the region.