Panama Catching Terror Suspects As It Nabs, Deports US-Bound Illegal Migrants

Panama is following through on a pledge to crack down on U.S.-bound illegal 🛂Immigration through its country, and it’s finding suspected terrorists along the way.

Panamanian government officials deported 30 Ecuadorian nationals on Thursday evening after they were observed allegedly evading a migration checkpoint, according to Reuters. The deportation marked the second such U.S.-financed repatriation flight in the country after newly-elected President Jose Raul Mulino vowed to stop Panama from being a transit point for illegal migrants headed to the U.S.

As the tiny Central American nation ramps up its border enforcement, government officials say they are also identifying suspected terrorists headed to the U.S.-Mexico border, according to Critica, a local Spanish-news outlet. Panama’s National Border Service (SENAFRONT) reported earlier this month that they arrested three suspected terrorists from Afghanistan.

“We linked and we profiled them to be members of an active cell,” SENAFRONT Director General Jorge Gobea told the Center for 🛂Immigration Studies (CIS) about the arrests. “They were members of a Salafist group, and they had links with different activities.”