On  Wednesday, February  19   the National Police arrested, in Chepo Manuel Camilo Rentería Lemus the alleged “capo” of the Colombian "Gulf Clan.

The same day, Panama’s Aeronaval Service (SENAN) in conjunction with the Colombian Navy. struck a major blow  against his operations with the seizure of  5 tons of cocaine  stashed in a semi-submersible launch in Bocas del Toro

Renteria Lemus  led the most important drug trafficking operations in the Panamanian Caribbean reports La Prensa

He entered the country in 2017, with fake papers,  and dominated the transfer of illicit substances on the Costa Arriba of Colon.

The Gulf Clan is currently considered the most powerful criminal network in Colombia engaged in drug trafficking, illegal mining and extortion.

The Clan also called Clan Úsuga or Los Urabeños (along the Gulf of Urabá, on the border with Darién), was founded in 2007 by one of the new generation of Colombian capos: Daniel Rendón Herrera, aka Don Mario, extradited to the United States in 2018. The US is also seeking the extradition of Rentería Lemus.