Panama is the most strategically located country in the Western Hemisphere for drug trafficking and other criminal activities, making it a crossroad for international crime. Panama's location between South America and North America, with its long coastlines, its border with Colombia, and the Panama Canal make the country a key staging point for drug shipments originating in Colombia for further shipment north. Panama's 225-kilometer land border with Colombia, its 2,870 kilometers of Caribbean and Pacific coastline, and over 1,480 islands make for an almost impossible task of policing its borders. Additional factors making Panama attractive to drug traffickers are weak Panamanian law enforcement and public security institutions, its large and sophisticated international banking sector, the Colon Free Zone (CFZ), and cargo container port facilities on both ends of the Panama Canal. Panama also is an international commercial air hub, with flights to the Americas, the Caribbean, Asia, and Europe. Panama's airspace is uncontrolled, and there are several smaller domestic airports in addition to the Tocumen International Airport in Panama City. Panama continues to be a major financial and commercial center, ideally positioned for illicit financial transactions and drug smuggling. Money laundering remains the most serious drug-related problem in Panama. Panama's large and sophisticated banking and trading institutions, its U.S. dollar-based economy, and its proximity to Colombia make it an attractive target for money laundering.


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