Cops involved in multiple killers jail break.
$30,000 wanted poster goes out for his recapture by the same people who let him escape. The irony about this guy is he uses La Joya like his second home, only a year before he pulled the same stunt. The good news for him is that the guards let him escape and did not damage any public property. If he had damaged a fence then he would be facing an extra five years on top of an already 50 year long sentence. In Panama, it is not what you know but who...
As The National Police announced on Tuesday, February 4, a $30,000 reward for information leading to the capture of Gilberto Ventura Ceballos, who escaped from the La Mega Joya prison on Monday night, fingers were already pointing to members of the force.
According to the authorities, "there are indications recorded in the security cameras to the fact that in the escape of Ventura Ceballos, there was the participation of police officers assigned to the security of the prison."
National Police, Director Jorge Miranda, said that an orange alert was already requested from Interpol to capture Ventura Ceballos, who in December 2016 escaped from La Joyita.
The Panamanian authorities also requested the cooperation of the Costa Rican authorities, because Ventura Ceballos was captured in September 2017 in a coastal area of Costa Rica.
Three investigations have been opened, one judicial and the other administrative. In addition, the Public Ministry began an ex officio investigation to determine how the prisoner could escape.
Sector C where cell 21 was, which was occupied by Ventura Ceballos, is equipped with a video surveillance system, which will determine the conditions in which the break occurred.
The prison authorities noticed the escape during the Tuesday morning count of the inmates.
Ventura Ceballos - who first escaped on December 28, 2016 - would have escaped at 10:30 pm. He went to sector C of courtyard 3 and in cell 21 off the prison, whose security is in charge of the National Police.
A massive police hunt is underway and an official investigation has been opened to determine persons linked to the breakout.
The Police have activated checkpoints in all areas of the country and a helicopter search has been activated.
Ventura Ceballos was recaptured on September 29, 2017, in Costa Rica and in 2018 he was sentenced to 50 years in prison. His victims were: Yessenia Argelis Loo, Yong Lian Wu, Samy Zeng Chen, Georgina del Carmen Lee and Mauricio Liu Wong. They were kidnapped and killed between 2010 and 2011.