With hundreds of police officers allocated to control measures linked to the pandemic Panama  gang warfare continued  through May with  59 homicides bringing the total for the year  to  242 an increase of 67 over the same period last year.

Executions have dominated with assassins  oblivious to  the coronavirus quarantine

The first killings  were on   May 3  in Colón, where two DJs were gunned  down, after they made their last presentation through social networks.

In total, 11 people were killed during during  month in Colón bringing  the  provincial total for the year to 41.

On May 7 the bodies of three men whom they executed were found in the community of El Líbano, , West Panama.

On May 11 the devil was unleashed 10 people were killed  including a man who was one of the most wanted in the country andwas  in an exclusive residential area  in Condado del Rey.

Hours later, the bullets rang out in the El Chumical area in Vacamonte, Arraiján district. Four bodies were found in a grassland area. Each had received  more than 10 bullets

Before the day ended  two brothers and a woman were shot in a  Los Santos home.. They were at home when gunmen shot them.

The death of a 73 year old schoolteacher who was killed  and cut into pieces by her daughter y was one of the few killings unrelated to gang warfare.

Jorge Miranda, director of the National Police, said that the  current situation stemmed from  the  gang battle in La Joya Prison  where 13 inmates died in  December 2019

Criminologist Aida Selles said "The crime is only going to be reasonably reduced, it is not going to be eradicated. Crime does not disappear, it only changes."

"The increase in homicides is indicating to us that violence in Panama is already a way of life, as a way of solving problems, whether due to drug trafficking, gangs or domestic violence," said criminologist  Marcos Álvarez.