I arrived in Panama on December 21, 1989 to participate in Operation Just Cause, commonly referred to as the invasion of Panama. Initially, I was set to stay 7 days, but ended up staying for 7 months. The first few days were spent hunting for Noriega, followed by searching for evidence proving his connection with drug trafficking.
By February, things had calmed down significantly in Panama, with most people back to work and resuming their everyday lives.As I was driving into the embassy one morning, I suddenly saw a taxi pull up next to me with a police officer in the passenger seat who appeared to be somewhat agitated, gesturing for me to pull over. As I stopped at a red light, the officer jumped out of the taxi, ran over to my car, slamming his hands on the roof of my vehicle and ordering me to get out. I responded by cracking my window slightly and asking him what the issue was, to which he replied that I had almost run him over a few blocks back. Now I have been known to drive somewhat aggressively at times, but one thing that I would never do is to try to run down a police officer. So, I immediately knew that something was off.
The officer again demanded that I get out of the car, to which I responded that I would not. He then asked for my driver’s license, which I slid through the crack in the window. At the same time, I showed him my DEA credentials and stated that I was in Panama on official duty, however the officer was not at all impressed. He informed me that he was keeping my license and that I would be fined heavily for attempting to run over a police officer. I stated that I had no issue with him writing me a ticket, but that I had a meeting to attend, so to get on with it.
The officer stated that the ticket would cost me $300 and that I would be required to spend the better part of the day at the courthouse arranging for payment. The officer further stated that while I was at the courthouse, the judge would probably decide to arrest me on the spot and put me in jail as trying to run over a police officer was a serious offense in Panama. So, it was very likely that I would spend that night in jail and possibly many more for my actions. But, because the officer was a very understanding individual, and was sure that the whole thing was a simple mix-up, with me being a foreigner and probably not familiar with the Panamanian laws, he would help me. According to the officer, if I just gave him the $300, then he would pay the fine for me and save me all of the hassle of having to go to the courthouse and possibly going to jail.
I explained to the police officer that I was not going to give him the money, to which he responded that he would reduce the fine to $150 to help me. I again stated that I would not give him the money, and he again reduced the fine first to $100, then to $80 and then to $50. Still refusing to give him the money, the officer then told me to at least give him the money to pay for the cab and a cup of coffee, to which I replied no. I also pointed out that he had not paid for the cab, but he apparently saw no humor in my comment. When he asked me why I refused to give him money, I stated that I also worked in law enforcement, as I had pointed out to him in beginning, and that in my country, paying a police officer is illegal and considered a bribe, so I would pay him nothing.
At this point, the officer again became agitated and ordered me once more to get out of the car as he was placing me under arrest and would be taking me to the police station for processing. I informed the officer that I would not get out of the vehicle, but that if he wanted to get in the vehicle, I would gladly drive us both to the police station to settle the issue once and for all. The officer climbed in the vehicle and off we went.
The officer again told me that I would be subject to a huge fine and likely be arrested when we arrived at the police station, to which I responded that I had no problem, but that before they locked me up, I would be speaking with the officer’s boss. The officer became visibly nervous and asked why I wanted to speak with his supervisor. I explained to him once again that I was in Panama on official business, invited by the government of Panama, and my arrest was sure to cause an international scandal, so I just wanted to advise the officer’s boss to give him advance notice of the storm that was looming on the horizon.
At the next traffic light, the officer jumped out of the car, tossed my license on the seat, and stated that, in honor of the mutual relationship between Panama and the United States, that he would give me a break. He then ran in between the cars and hailed a taxi in the opposite direction.
I continued my journey to the U.S. embassy, and found an annoyed Chief of Police waiting for me. The Chief had recently taken office and had scheduled a meeting where I was to be present to discuss training for his intelligence division, and was annoyed at my delay in arriving. When I explained the cause of my delay, the Chief asked me if I recalled the name of the officer, which I did as it was clearly displayed on his uniform.
Later that evening, as I was heading to my car parked outside the embassy, the officer was waiting for me in civilian clothes. If he looked agitated earlier that morning, it was nothing compared to the state he was in at that point. Apparently, after departing the embassy, the Chief had the police officer removed from duty permanently for attempting to elicit a bribe. The newly jobless officer blamed me for his dismissal, and was now demanding that I give him money to help support his family. You think that he would have learned from our previous interactions that day that I would not be giving him money. But I had to laugh when he said to me that there should be no issues with me giving him money now as he was no longer a police officer…