Panama’s Murder Wave Defies Curfews and Tests Mulino’s Crime Pledge

PANAMA · SECURITY

Panama homicides are on pace to pass last year’s total, and the government’s answer — curfews, more patrols and no talks with gangs — has yet to slow the killing.

A murder count that keeps climbing

Panama homicides reached 300 in the first six months of 2026, according to Attorney General’s Office figures reported in late July. Most cases concentrate in Panama province, in San Miguelito and in the Caribbean city of Colón.

The mid-May tally already told the story. By 19 May prosecutors had logged 230 killings, one more than the country recorded by the end of May 2025.

The daily average rose to 1.64 homicides, from 1.51 in the same stretch of last year. The year 2025 ended with 593 murders, a rate of 12.9 per 100,000 people.

Two killings on 18 May shocked the public. A deputy prosecutor, Patricia Ossa Sánchez, was shot dead in the Pueblo Nuevo district of Panama City.

That same day gunmen ambushed a local politician, Juan Ruperto Degracia Murillo, in Chiriquí province. Five people were wounded, among them a child.

The numbers carry extra weight because of the country’s size. About four million people live in Panama, so every hundred murders moves the national rate sharply.

Curfews spread from the capital to the coast

The political response has centred on nightly restrictions. In May the mayor of San Miguelito, Irma Hernández, imposed curfews in two of the district’s most violent neighbourhoods.

This month the beach district of Antón, in Coclé province, followed. Its curfew keeps minors off the streets from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. until 14 September.

The trigger there was a gang feud that killed two women in August. The town also suspended a popular folk parade, and the Catholic Church called a peace march.

Colón knows the pattern well. Its province posted a homicide rate of 42 per 100,000 last year, a level the national crime statistics office itself calls alarming.

Curfews are not new in Panama. Colón has lived under restrictions on minors since 2024, when President José Raúl Mulino first warned of an alarming gang situation.

The restrictions vary in detail but share one logic. Officials say empty streets at night make gang movement easier to spot.

Gangs, cocaine and hired guns

The director of the National Police says more than 180 gangs operate in Panama. He attributes about 70 percent of the country’s killings to them.

The geography explains part of it. Panama sits between Colombian coca country and the ports that feed North American and European markets.

Colón’s container terminals move much of that trade. Police seizures there regularly turn up cocaine hidden in legitimate cargo.

Rival federations known as Calor Calor and Bagdad dominate much of the gang landscape. Their battles over territory drive most of the bloodshed in the capital region.

Prosecutors describe a shift toward contract killings, known locally as sicariato. Jorge Ferguson, the homicide prosecutor for the capital region, says several recent cases look like organised executions.

He also warns that gangs recruit minors on purpose. Panama homicides increasingly involve teenagers, because juvenile courts treat young offenders more leniently.

Mulino’s answer, and its limits

Mulino built his career on a hard line. As security minister a decade ago he oversaw a falling murder rate, and he promises the same result again.

In May he ruled out any negotiation with gang leaders and ordered reinforced police deployments. His government has also floated tougher penalties for minors who kill.

The president raised the age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 14 during his ministerial years. He now suggests judges should treat young killers with adult rigour.

Critics answer that curfews mostly restrict children, not gunmen. Panama homicides have kept climbing through every curfew declared this year.

Inside his own camp the methods differ. Mayors have improvised their own rules district by district, without a national framework.

Security sits at the centre of his government’s message. Official announcements now lead with arrest figures and weapon seizures.

What it means for expats and investors

Panama still sells itself as a safe hub for foreign residents and capital. The banking district, the canal economy and the expat enclaves feel far from the shooting.

Official statistics support part of that promise. The violence concentrates in specific districts such as San Miguelito, Colón and pockets of Panama Oeste.

The United States updated its travel advice on 19 August. It tells visitors to exercise increased caution because of crime, a notch below its warnings for much of the region.

For investors the risk is reputational more than physical. A country that sells stability cannot let its murder statistics lead the evening news.

For would-be residents tracking Panama homicides from abroad, the headline numbers look worse than daily life. Shopkeepers in curfew zones close earlier, and parents simply keep teenagers indoors after dark.

What to watch from here

The first test is the count itself. If Panama homicides keep the current pace, 2026 will overtake last year’s 593 before December.

The second is whether the curfews hold in Coclé. The Antón measure expires on 14 September, and the mayor must then decide whether to extend it.

The third is legislative. Any move to stiffen penalties for minors will face the National Assembly and human rights groups at once.

Mulino has staked his credibility on order. A second violent year would leave that promise in pieces.

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