06/11/2024
For information leading to the capture of Gulf Clan members involved in migrant smuggling through the Darien Gapon the border of Colombia with Panama, the United States Government arranged a reward package of up to 8 million dollars.
The White House State Department reported this Tuesday that the head of the portfolio, Antony Blinken, approved the budget within the framework of the Rewards Program against Transnational Organized Crime.
The payments are categorized as follows: up to $1 million for information on the Gulf Clan’s financing mechanisms to sponsor the movement of migrants; up to $2 million dollars for the ringleaders who run that business, which can go up up to US$5 million in the event that migrants die during their journey to the United States.
“Tips can be submitted to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), by phone at (866) 347-2423 (toll-free) or online at www. ice.gov/tips,” the State Department reported.
The smuggling of migrants through the Darién, in addition to being a humanitarian tragedy, is one of America’s biggest concerns regarding the thousands of foreigners who crowd daily on its border with Mexico.
This jungle point brings together foreigners from Southeast Asia, Africa, Cuba, Venezuela and Haiti, mainly, which are first grouped in the municipalities of Turbo or Necoclí (Antioquia), waiting for a boat that will take them through the Gulf of Urabá towards the Capurganá district, in Acandí (Chocó).
Once there, they have two options: a boat that takes them to a town in Panama, or cross the border through the Darién jungle. The journey is full of dangers, not only because of the climate and the rugged topography, but also because of the pirate gangs that assault migrants and in some cases subject them to sexual assault.
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