Absolutely right, Panamanian immigration police are everywhere checking papers all the time. Add to that the way the article got the Darien Gap all wrong it makes the article completely bogus.
Good to hear about your residency, now I’ll have to come up w/ some other excuse to get you up here ;). Be sure to pass on the book ordering details as soon as you get them.
I have a relative in Panama working for a large European firm, and she tells me the illegals from Venezuela are replacing residents at her manufacturing firm.
She says there are a lot of them in Panama, and the businesses like and protect them, because they undercut all the normal wages.
Sounds like the US.