{"id":60403,"date":"2026-02-07T10:44:59","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T18:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=60403"},"modified":"2026-02-07T10:44:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T18:44:59","slug":"former-leader-of-panama-drug-syndicate-convicted-in-us-cocaine-trafficking-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=60403","title":{"rendered":"Former leader of Panama drug syndicate convicted in US cocaine trafficking case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\" title=\"\" data-start=\"188\" data-end=\"461\"><span style=\"font-size: 21px;\"><strong>LOS ANGELES\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" title=\"\" data-start=\"188\" data-end=\"461\"><span style=\"font-size: 21px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-59291 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1yeql23dvji-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"brown wooden chairs inside room\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1yeql23dvji-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1yeql23dvji-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1yeql23dvji-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1yeql23dvji-300x450.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1yeql23dvji.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/>A federal jury has convicted <strong data-start=\"231\" data-end=\"272\"><span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo-Clarke<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, the former leader of Panama\u2019s largest drug trafficking organization, of conspiring to distribute cocaine for unlawful importation into the U.S. Justice Department announced Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" title=\"\" data-start=\"463\" data-end=\"681\"><span style=\"font-size: 21px;\">Camargo-Clarke, 46 \u2014 also known as \u201cCool nene\u201d \u2014 was found guilty late Thursday of one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. He has been in federal custody since March 2023, when he was extradited from Costa Rica.<\/span><\/p>\n<p title=\"\" data-start=\"463\" data-end=\"681\"><span style=\"font-size: 21px;\">Camargo faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a possible life term. US District Judge <strong data-start=\"1752\" data-end=\"1793\"><span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Andr\u00e9 Birotte Jr.<\/span><\/span><\/strong> scheduled sentencing for June 12.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" title=\"\" data-start=\"683\" data-end=\"1032\"><span style=\"font-size: 21px;\">Prosecutors said Camargo headed the Bagdad syndicate, a sprawling criminal enterprise that directed roughly 4,000 traffickers in Panama and Colombia. Evidence at trial showed the organization controlled much of Panama\u2019s Pacific coast cocaine corridor, coordinating large maritime shipments bound for Central America and ultimately the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" title=\"\" data-start=\"1034\" data-end=\"1289\"><span style=\"font-size: 21px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-6759 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Department-of-Justice-300x197.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"197\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Department-of-Justice-300x197.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Department-of-Justice-90x60.jpg 90w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Department-of-Justice.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Authorities testified that Camargo used BlackBerry Messenger to communicate with Colombian suppliers and regional partners, personally overseeing boat shipments and directing where drugs were delivered, concealed, and transferred along trafficking routes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" title=\"\" data-start=\"1291\" data-end=\"1633\" data-speechifyplaybackhighlighter-highlight=\"true\"><span style=\"font-size: 21px;\">In 2017 alone, Panamanian security forces seized approximately 7.9 tons of cocaine from areas under Camargo\u2019s control. Among those seizures was more than 200 kilograms recovered in November 2017 from an underground cache in Rio Caimito \u2014 a shipment prosecutors said Camargo had ordered from Colombia for onward transport to the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" title=\"\" data-start=\"1635\" data-end=\"1827\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LOS ANGELES\u00a0 A federal jury has convicted Jorge Rub\u00e9n Camargo-Clarke, the former leader of Panama\u2019s largest drug trafficking organization, of conspiring to distribute cocaine for unlawful importation into the U.S. Justice Department&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site 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