Tue 20 Jan 2009, 15:41 GMT

Suspect confesses to murder of CEPSA director


Justice Minister says detainee has confessed to his involvement in the crime.



A person arrested on Saturday in connection with the murder of the head of the Panama unit of Compañia Española de Petroleos S.A.(CEPSA) has confessed to his involvement in the crime, according to Panama's Justice Minister.

In a statement to local media, Dilio Arcia [pictured] said the unnamed detainee had also been linked to the mugging of an Indian man and the rape of a woman in Panama City.

Arcia added that two other people were also apparently arrested on Friday in connection with Manuel Machin Ramos' death, but said he could not provide further details about the investigation whilst it was still ongoing.

Four people arrested on Wednesday, the day Ramos was killed, have already been released after investigators determined that they did not have any connection with the murder.

Forty-nine year old Ramos, director of CEPSA's representative office in Panama, was apparently shot dead as he was driving away from Omar Park in Panama City, where he regularly exercised. The assailants then fled in the victim's SUV in what appeared to be a carjacking.

An ambulance took Ramos to the Santo Tomas Hospital, where he died from a bullet wound to the stomach.

CEPSA Panama S.A. was established by the Spanish oil company in 1998 as part of its strategy to supply bunker fuel in one of Latin America's leading ports.

The company supplies fuel oil and distillates by barge and ex-pipe at both ends of the Panama Canal, using imported products stored at its own facilities.

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