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Armed Robbery Alert for Las Perlas, Panama

Late on Monday, March 28, we received the following alert from the Panama Posse organizers regarding the American-flagged sailboat Constellation being boarded in the Pacific, while in an anchorage in the vicinity of the Las Perlas Islands.

Alert for Panama
The Panama Posse was formed in 2017 to support boats’ safe travel between the canal on the East and West Coast of North and Central America.
© 2023

“A US-flagged sailboat was boarded at gunpoint at 2000 hours off the coast of Isla del Rey near the islet of La Niña in the Las Perlas. The islands are off the Pacific Coast near the Panama Canal.

“The four attackers broke the door and windows of the boat and forcefully made the four Americans lie on the floor. The captain of the vessel suffered head injuries from being hit in the head with a gun. The men also carried machetes.

“They stayed aboard the boat, named Constellation, for 90 minutes. They stole all valuable items including passports, phones, electronics, computers, jewelry including wedding rings, money and their dog.

“The sailing vessel Constellation made their way back to La Playita Marina in Amador, Panama City, at 0400 hours on Tuesday, March 28. The captain is getting medical attention and reported this incident to the Panama Police.

“This is the second armed robbery in this same area of the Las Perlas within a month. Another US-flagged boat was also boarded at gunpoint and the two people aboard were tied up as the four robbers stole all their valuables. They reported this to the Panama Police on February 27, 2023.”

Constellation is a 1991 Freedom 45.
© 2023

Constellation was able to communicate this brief report:

Four armed Black men, young (17-25 yrs). Approached rapidly just after dark. Quickly climbed on the boat and forced their way through closed hatches and broke our companionway. Had guns and machetes. I locked myself in the bathroom with our handheld VHF and made a distress call and hit the distress button. No response. They kicked down the door and took the handheld VHF and asked in Spanish if I called the police. They ransacked the boat while we were all forced to sit or lie down. They hit some of us to force us down. They stole our dog. No signs or suspicious activity that made us worried at this anchorage. We have not seen any other boats all day. We are a 45-ft sailboat with a dinghy and one paddleboard on deck. They took the paddleboard but left the dinghy. It’s my husband and I on board and two of our friends visiting to be line handlers. All in our late 20s and early 30s. Sharing since I know many will be interested to know our profile and if/why we might have been targeted.

Chris and Cory have owned Constellation since 2018.
© 2023

Constellation is a member of the Panama Posse, a boat rally with over 325 boats a year participating. The Panama Posse was formed in 2017 to support boats to safely travel between the canal on the East and West Coast of North and Central America.

5 Comments

  1. Rev Dr Malama 1 year ago

    I am sorry to hear about this, especially when a dog (child) is taken! I am praying that you recover dog and belongings and the perpetrators are punished accordingly…
    These and other assaults to innocent people are souring my plans to ever visit that and other countries that are not effectively capturing their own citizens who are attacking and sometimes killing innocent visitors also in Mexico and beyond.

  2. Carlos Valencia 12 months ago

    The Constellation crew was very lucky to have made it through alive. We passed up the Islas Perlas on our ’93 voyage from SF to the East Coast because it was out of way to the Canal entrance. One day, on a ham radio cruisers net we monitored a tragedy on a U.S. cruising sailboat, with a couple aboard, anchored off a prison island in the Gulf of Panama near the Canal entrance, where prison escapees boarded and killed the armed captain. It was a dangerous area to traverse, even more so when passing through the Canal to the City of Colon on the Atlantic side, where drug smugglers stop in for a rest, and who knows what else, on their way from Colombia and other countries to unload their cargos to the U.S and nearby island countries . We saw a number of 400 HP Torpedo boats on several stops on our way to Florida. We used our own secret frequencies on ham radio to communicate with buddy boats while traveling at night going north, lights out, VHF on, but not in use otherwise. Arriving at Isla Providencia in the Western Carib, my wife and I were greatly relieved to get through that area without incident.

    We took lots of precautions to minimize our exposure to danger. We traveled in groups or with a buddy boat when possible, we coordinated anchorage destinations, we checked by radio to avoid trouble spots and more. All the way to Panama from SF, we saw lots of dinghy thefts where thieves used chainsaws to whack out outboards before making a get-away. We heard stories about unwanted boardings, and ambushes by (Cayucos) in a small armada to rob cruiser boats, without proper charts, aground on sandbars. We hid our cash and valuables on our boat and when possible, we made arrangements with other cruisers in our anchorages to keep and eye on our boat while ashore, even for days in some instances.

    Not withstanding the above comments, we enjoyed one of the best times together as a couple in our lives making living a high-adventure cruising life the whole way. But times and conditions are different now in Latin America.

    Carlos Valencia
    Felicia, 29.9 Bristol
    Channel Islands Harbor

    Channel Islands Harbor

    • Fred Read 12 months ago

      We were underway in the open Caribbean when we heard the actual mayday that she was putting out. I was going to relay for her to the CG but someone came in with a better signal. To hear a mayday at all on SSB is on usually. The CG said “what s the nature of your emergency.” She said” my husband has been shot and I thing he is dead. They were anchored a Coiba, at the time a prison island. Bad news. They didn’t hurt her, just had her sail near shore and then took her dingy on to shore and were gone. They shot him with his gun! Guns on board a very mixed bag.

  3. Fred Read. 12 months ago

    So sorry to hear this. We cruised this area for nearly a year. No issues at all. Hopefully just isolated. A hand full of guys, ( gang) doing this. Really hope this is not a trend. Panama is a wonderful place to cruise. We anchored all alone quite a bit in this area and the Isla Secas. Liked the Secas the best but indeed remote.

    You really had to be careful when Isla Coiba was a prision island. We never anchored anywhere too near to it.

  4. Ken brinkley 12 months ago

    Stealing their dog really sucks .A truly terrible and terrifying experience. Best wishes for a speedy recovery and retrieving your dog !

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