PANAMA · SECURITY
Key Facts
- Who Frank Ábrego, Panama’s Security Minister, spoke on Thursday 12 November 2026 in Chiriquí, a western province.
- Admission Some police officers, prison guards and prison officials help inmates bring in banned items, he said.
- Trigger Prison chief Chanan Singh quit on 11 November, saying police stay inside the La Joyita prison’s cell blocks.
- Dispute Ábrego says the police must stay because the prison service cannot yet hold the jails alone.
- Power Index Panama ranks 11th of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 33.3 points (November 2026 edition).
Panama’s security minister has publicly admitted that some police officers and prison guards help inmates, a day after the head of the prison system quit.
Panama’s Security Minister, Frank Ábrego, said on Thursday 12 November 2026 that some police officers, prison guards and prison staff help inmates bring banned items into jails. He spoke a day after Chanan Singh resigned as director of the country’s prison system.
Asked directly whether police officers help detainees, Ábrego answered “Yes”. He gave the same answer about prison guards and prison-system officials, and said Singh had merely stated the obvious.
Why Singh Quit
Singh took over the prison system in July, after 195 inmates escaped from the La Joyita prison on 1 June, and announced his resignation on Wednesday 11 November. The Ministry of Government, which oversees the prisons, says he left for personal reasons and named Fabián Camargo to replace him.
Singh said he had asked for police officers to leave the interior of La Joyita and received no concrete answer from Ábrego or the police director. He said officers remain inside the cell blocks, including sector C, where 260 inmates are held, and that he could not enter it.
The Minister’s Defence of the Police
Ábrego said the police should have left the prisons 18 years ago, because the law meant their role to be temporary. He said the prison service has still not taken over full custody, so officers have had to fill the gap.
He denied that Singh lacked support and said transfers of detainees need the signature of prison directors. He also said raids to seize mobile phones, televisions and other items began before Singh took the job.
National Police director Jaime Fernández called the departure a personal decision of the former director and said officers will keep supporting the Ministry of Government inside the prisons. He said police seized 265 Starlink satellite-internet antennas this year, against almost 40 last year, and that weapons seized rose from about 50 to about 109.
Why It Matters
The dispute is about who controls the cell blocks: the minister says the police must stay, while the prison chief who quit says they should leave. The number behind it is 195, the inmates who escaped La Joyita on 1 June 2026, the crisis that brought Singh to the job.
Minister of Government Dinoska Montalvo, who is Singh’s direct superior, accepted his resignation. Singh’s superior is not Ábrego, so the dispute crosses two ministries: Security, which commands the police, and Government, which runs the prisons.
What It Means for You
For visitors and expats the dispute changes nothing directly, as it concerns how the prisons are run. It matters for readers following Panama’s security policy, which now faces a public dispute between the prison director who quit and the Security Minister.
What Is Not Known
It is not known whether police will leave the interior of La Joyita, since police director Jaime Fernández said officers will keep supporting the prisons. Singh’s own account of why he left differs from the ministry’s account of personal reasons.
Our earlier report covers the resignation of the prison chief. The Rio Times Latin America Power Index and our Panama news page track what follows.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Panama’s security minister admit police help prisoners?
Yes. Frank Ábrego said on 12 November that some police officers, prison guards and prison officials help inmates bring in banned items.
Why did Chanan Singh resign?
The Ministry of Government says he left for personal reasons. Singh said police stay inside La Joyita’s cell blocks despite his request that they leave.
Who runs Panama’s prisons now?
The Ministry of Government has named Fabián Camargo to replace Singh as head of the prison system. Singh had held the job since July.
Sources: Panama’s Ministry of Public Security, statements by Minister Frank Ábrego, 12 November 2026; National Police of Panama, statements by director Jaime Fernández, 12 November 2026; Ministry of Government of Panama, communiqué on the resignation of Chanan Singh, 11 November 2026; Singh’s public statements, 11 November 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. The Rio Times also runs Ask Rio Times, which answers from 100,000+ of our own articles, the daily Latin America Power Map, and prediction-market odds on elections and markets.. How we use AI · Report an error