DAVID VITERI one of Panama’s “most wanted” criminals with a $20,000 reward offered for his capture,  is back behind bars.

He was captured in the Trump Tower, in Punta Pacifica,  at 8 pm on Wednesday November 30  after a two year  intelligence tracking operation.

He is now in pre-trial detention in the DIJ in  Ancon where he is not likely to enjoy the “comforts” of his previous detention  and will appear in court on January 30 to face attempted homicide charges  in a case dating back eight years and other charges.

The director general of the National Police, Omar Pinzón, confirmed that at the time of his arrest Viteri was armed with  a Glock pistol and cartridge clips.

Pinzon  said that Viteri had been moving in different sectors of Panama City.

High living in La Joya
Viteri’s colorful past includes service as a US Drug  Enforcements Agency (DEA)   informant who reportedly collected $300 for each confiscated  kilo of drugs, and at one time, while in La Joya prison, “lived like a king” with a fully equipped kitchen, TV  and air conditioning.

Viteri, known in the underworld as El Padre  seems to have led a charmed life, and was linked in 2006 to  an infamous “drug snatch” one gang stealing a drug shipment from another  gang.

In 2008 he obtained a provisional dismissal by the First Criminal Court for the alleged crime of money laundering.

Earlier he had escaped an assassination attempt  on Via Espana by the “Pentagon” gang working for the Cali Cartel  His companion. Johnny Cordova Pozo was killed.

While working for the DEA he also  provided information to the former Technical Judicial Police and the Drug Prosecutor’s Office according to  media reports.

He is now their guest at the DIJ headquarters in Ancon