Judge Orders Detention of Another Suspect in Russia-Ukraine Recruitment Network
PANAMA CITY, August 14, 2026 – A guarantees judge of Panama First Judicial Circuit, Carmelo Zambrano, ordered preventive detention for a 63-year-old man charged with a crime against liberty in the form of human trafficking, linked to the alleged recruitment of Panamanian citizens to be incorporated into the war between Russia and Ukraine, Metro Libre reported.
The judge determined that deprivation of liberty was necessary, appropriate and proportional to the seriousness of the alleged offence.
He based the decision on procedural risks including flight risk, the possible destruction or tampering of evidence, risk to the community and a threat to the integrity of the victims.
Before the precautionary measure was imposed, the Guarantees Court declared the arrest legal and accepted the formulation of charges presented by prosecutor Elizabeth Carrion on behalf of the Public Ministry. The defence was handled by private attorney Arnulfo Vargas.
According to the case file, applicants were promised payments of between 3,000 and 6,000 dollars a month, sums above 6,000 dollars if assigned to combat missions, and life insurance of up to 400,000 dollars for their families in the event of death.
Investigators say the accused summoned recruits to the area around the Iglesia del Carmen, from where they were taken to the Passport Authority and then to a residence known as “La Mansion” in the Bella Vista corregimiento.
The case forms part of the wider investigation into how Panamanians came to be enlisted in a foreign conflict, an issue the Foreign Ministry has been handling through consular and diplomatic channels.
Why it matters
The detention shows prosecutors are now pursuing the recruitment chain inside Panama, not only the consular response to citizens already abroad.
What happens next
The investigation continues while the accused remains in preventive detention pending the next stages of the criminal process.
