Panama's new president, José Raúl Mulino, has made of cracking down on immigration through the country a top priority since taking office on July 1. Among the different measures was the setting up of barbed wire along stretches of the Darien Gap, a treacherous jungle path connecting the country with Colombia and used by hundreds of thousands of migrants as they travel north of the continent.
At least five passages have been shut by the use of wire, and Panamanian authorities have began patrolling areas in the Caribbean and Pacific ocean. The force said it has been instructed to stop and detain people traveling with "irregular migrants" and hand them over to Colombian authorities.
