Panamanian police seized 570 kilogrammes of cocaine and asked for an inquiry into police agents accused of stealing illegal drugs from police precincts, the director of the Panamanian judiciary police said Monday. Jaime Jacome said narcotics agents broke up a trafficking ring operating in Aguadulce, about 200 kilometres west of Panama City. The band included Colombian and Chinese citizens, he said. Agents on Sunday seized 18 bundles of cocaine on a beach known as El Salado and also at a supermarket operated by suspects of Chinese descent. Deputy narcotics prosecutor Patricio Candanedo said 103 kilos of the cocaine had been stolen from a judiciary police facility where it was in storage after being seized from narcotics traffickers, indicating that police officers were involved. Jacome asked Attorney General Jose Sossa to start an investigation into the links between drug traffickers and the Panamanian police. --SP 2303 Local Time 2003 GMT
