Panama boosts security in Darien Gap to confront human traffickers

FILE PHOTO: A provisional bed is pictured inside a local gymnasium in Puerto Obaldia town in the Guana Yala Region September 16, 2015. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso/File Photo

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Panama launched a police operation on Friday at its border with Colombia to fight organized crime and human smuggling linked to the growing flow of migrants crossing the dangerous jungle of the Darien Gap.

"Operation Choco" aims to stop transnational organized crime in the Darien by mobilizing aerial support and confronting crime groups "head on," Security Minister Juan Pino told a press conference.