Panamanian mafia boss hunted down when he went to buy luxury clothes in the village of Las Rozas

The arrest took place on the afternoon of September 16 in the parking lot of the Las Rozas Village shopping center, where his wife used to go with her son and other criminal accomplices who had shopped for her in luxury stores in Spain.

This is a criminal syndicate that has committed and continues to commit murders, attacks on drug traffickers, drug trafficking, extortion and arms trafficking, among other crimes. After his arrest, last Tuesday, Francis is awaiting extradition to Panama, by a decision of the National Court, for which the period is normally 40 days.

Interpol had issued a red warrant for this subject, which covered 196 countries. However, it was proven that during these two months he was in Europe, specifically in Spain, according to data collected by the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Gangsterism of Panama.

Our agents began the investigation and concentrated the shots on the province of Madrid. They found out that the fugitive had family ties in the area and that they were sheltering him in El Escorial. Of course, the sources in the case emphasize that they took him from his home because he knew that they were looking for him. Francis, which is his pseudonym, is an extremely dangerous man, who has been arrested several times and who has tried all possible avenues, gone to court and used legal means to get away with it.

Control over the city of Colón

The Terror Killa, according to the Panamanian authorities, maintain a tight control over the underworld in the neighborhood (somewhat similar to the Spanish neighborhoods) of Barrio Sur, specifically in Calle 16, Domingo Díaz and Callejón Martínez, as well as in those of Cristóbal and Sabanitas, in the city of Colón. This area covers a large part of the north-central area of ​​the beautiful Central American country.

In May 2016, the First Criminal Court of Colón sentenced Francis to 80 months in prison for possession and trafficking of weapons. The case was heard on appeal in October 2021. On September 14 of last year, he was arrested along with 42 other people at a party in Escobal, Colón. A few months earlier, in February 2023, Jaime Powell Rodríguez, alias “Yunya”, had been arrested in Madrid and in November 2022, Anthony Alfredo Martínez had been captured in Dubai. They were among his most trusted men within the criminal network.

The investigation to track down Francis began last July, when it was discovered during the operation against his gang that he had left the country. This group, composed of men and women and led by the fugitive, was dedicated to committing various criminal acts in a coordinated and organized manner, including selective killings, drug trafficking, robberies with firearms and home invasions.

Madrid and Barcelona

Francis had a front company in his name, located at Santa Isabel and Meléndez Avenue. The purpose of the company, at least on paper, was the purchase and sale of clothing, shoes, auto parts and land transportation services in general.

The investigations of the Fugitive Location Section of the Udyco Central allowed to verify that part of his family could live in different regions of Spain, which led the investigators to carry out surveillance and checks in different areas of Madrid and Barcelona. specifically in two houses. Until the surveillance was intensified in a house in El Escorial, where his wife, his son and several henchmen of his mafia lived daily. They often changed addresses.

When the fugitive was discovered in one of the homes his family members had just moved into, the Fugitives Department set up a surveillance device in the area. After spotting the vehicle he was driving, he was arrested in the parking lot of the shopping center. He realized he was one of two inside.