Expat Community > Panama

omarmartintorrijos
Joined 2013
Posts: 14

Boquete Burglars

11 years ago

If you live in the Alto Lino area of Boquete, which is rural acreage country and not near too many neighbors, you need to take immediate measures to protect your home from burglary.

Last night, Thursday, another ex-pat house was burglarized in Alto Lino. While the resident was at the BCP theater, the burglars pulled the bars off a window and entered through the unlocked window. A new big screen TV was dismounted from the wall and other valuable items were stolen. Her computer was successfully hidden and was not stolen. The alarm system was turned off. Police and a private investigator are working on the case.

This is the second burglary in the Alto Lino area within the last month and marks a new and disturbing pattern. Over the last year, a number of attempts have been made to burglarize ex-pats in the area from The Rock restaurant to Alto Lino, some successful, some not. The gang is now becoming more professional and brazen. It is essential that as a community we pull together and put a stop to their activity.

What to do:

- Be alert for boys on bicycles patrolling the neighborhood. These criminals know the movements of every expat in the area. They know how many people live in your house and when you are gone, day and night. Take pictures of suspicious individuals and/or cars and email them to [email protected]. Tell us about any suspicious activity you observe. Call the Hot Line at 6477-6662.

- If you have an alarm system make sure it is working and is turned on and that it will produce a meaningful response. In the previous burglary, the alarm worked perfectly, but the neighbor across the street ignored it because it frequently went off. Let your neighbors know when you are gone and give them the Hot Line number to call along with your Resident ID.

- If you have a big screen TV, you are a target. At least buy a computer security cable and attach it to your TV. They all have a dock for this purpose. Hide your laptop every time you leave the house, day or night. Of course, hide your jewelry and anything else you want to keep. Make sure you maid does not know the hiding place.

- For maximum security, never leave your house alone for any length of time, day or night. You may wince at the cost of hiring someone to watch your house when you are gone, but consider the alternative. In the previous burglary, the residents had a watchman who always lived in the house when they were gone. The one single night when they had to stay in David unexpectedly and the watchman was not there, they got hit.

- Bars on the window are no longer a deterrent, especially if the window is left open. Check to see how strong your bars really are. In this case, they were mostly decorative and were easily breached.

- Video cameras could be useful, especially if they are positioned to watch the street and are mounted up high where they can't be easily stolen themselves. Hide the "base station" so that it cannot be stolen.

- Evaluate your security situation critically - how easy is it for them to get onto your property and get away with the goods? How easy is it to get into your house? If you would like a security consultation, please email us at [email protected].

Alto al Crimen is doing every thing we legally can to bring this crime wave to an end. It is important to understand how costly this kind of crime is to our community. The last two burglaries alone account for between $5,000 and $10,000 in losses - enough to pay a full time security guard and more than the entire Alto al Crimen budget for a year.

We will keep you up to date on developments via our website at www.altoalcrimen.org

The Alto al Crimen Team

Kovalenko & Vera Attorneys at Law in Panama

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Boquete Burglars

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