Supply Chain Security is National Security

Supply Chain Security is National Security

How an operational breakthrough in the Panama Canal is changing the fight against drug trafficking 

By Troy Miller • May 20, 2026

The Panama Canal remains one of the world’s most vital maritime chokepoints, facilitating roughly 5–6% of global seaborne trade and supporting more than 14,000 vessel transits annually. It is indispensable to international commerce. Panama’s interconnected port system ranks among the leading transshipment hubs in the Americas, handling approximately 10 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) annually, with nearly 90% of container traffic tied to transshipment activity moving between Atlantic and Pacific terminals.

But its immense scale and logistical complexity also make it attractive to transnational criminal organizations seeking to move narcotics, contraband, counterfeit goods, and other illicit commodities within otherwise lawful trade flows.

The numbers underscore the seriousness of the threat. According to the Panama Canal Authority and Panamanian security reporting, Panamanian authorities seized more than 120 metric tons of cocaine in 2023, much of it tied to containerized cargo moving through canal-adjacent facilities. International reporting from the United Nations and regional security organizations continues to identify Panama as a key transshipment hub for narcotics destined for North American and European markets.

For more than three decades serving on the front lines of America’s national and homeland security mission, I saw this challenge up close. Criminal organizations no longer rely solely on covert routes or hidden smuggling corridors. Today, they exploit the very arteries of legitimate global commerce, ports, free trade zones, trucking routes, and containerized cargo systems that power the world economy.

That is what makes this new commercial partnership between BigBear.ai and Narval Group via ISC now underway in Panama so significant. The deployment of the International Shipping Compliance (ISC) application is a first-of-its-kind AI-powered cargo security management solution provided by ISC and powered by BigBear.ai technology. It is designed to give operators a clearer view of where cargo is, who is handling it, and whether something has changed along the way. For customs and border security professionals, that kind of visibility can mean the difference between missing when contraband enters the supply chain and identifying the risk early enough to react.

For years, much of the public discussion surrounding narcotics interdiction has focused on maritime seizures at sea or enforcement activity at our borders. Those efforts remain critical. However, one of the most vulnerable areas in the supply chain often exists on land during container transfers between ports, logistics hubs, and free trade zones.

In Panama, containers moving between Pacific and Atlantic facilities may transit through high-volume logistics corridors where dwell time creates opportunities for criminal exploitation. Drug trafficking organizations have become highly sophisticated in using “rip-on/rip-off” techniques, inserting narcotics into legitimate containers during transit and removing them before final delivery. These operations can exploit vulnerabilities across logistics networks, including personnel access, handoffs and gaps in visibility, allowing criminal networks to hide in plain sight among millions of containers moving through the global trading system.

The reality is straightforward: no country can inspect its way out of this problem.

Modern trade moves at extraordinary speed and volume. Even the best customs and law enforcement agencies can physically inspect only a small percentage of global cargo. The answer is not slowing commerce. It is making supply chains smarter, more transparent, and more secure.

That requires a layered, intelligence-driven approach that combines technology, advanced analytics, and trusted partnerships between government and industry. Artificial intelligence and predictive targeting tools can identify anomalies in shipping patterns, routing behavior, manifests, and dwell times that human analysis alone might miss. Smart container seals with GPS tracking and tamper detection can help preserve cargo integrity during vulnerable overland movements. Enhanced data sharing between carriers, ports, customs agencies, and international partners can provide earlier warning of emerging threats before cargo reaches our borders.

What Better Visibility Makes Possible

In practice, this means giving operators a better way to see how cargo is moving through high-risk corridors, where delays or route changes may be occurring, and whether a container may have been tampered with during vulnerable points in transit. It also means helping logistics operators, security teams, and government partners coordinate faster when risk appears, while keeping legitimate trade moving.

But technology alone is not enough. Supply chain resilience ultimately depends on trust. Vetting personnel, combating corruption, and strengthening accountability across the logistics ecosystem remain essential. Criminal organizations will always seek the weakest link in the chain.

During my time leading U.S. Customs and Border Protection, we recognized that protecting the homeland increasingly meant pushing our security posture outward, working with international partners and the private sector to identify threats far upstream from the United States. The Panama Canal is precisely the kind of strategic environment where that collaborative model is essential.

Securing global trade corridors is not simply a regional law enforcement issue. It is an economic security imperative that affects nations, industries, and consumers worldwide. Every vulnerability exploited by transnational criminal organizations undermines both public safety and confidence in the integrity of global commerce.

The good news is that we possess the tools, technologies, and partnerships necessary to confront this challenge. What is required now is sustained commitment, international cooperation, and recognition that supply chain visibility is no longer optional. It is foundational to combating narcotics trafficking, contraband smuggling, and the evolving threats facing the global trading system.