Arrest after 31 years on the run
Venezuelan authorities arrested Ali Zaki Hage Jalil on Margarita Island, ending more than three decades as a fugitive in connection with the 1994 bombing of Alas Chiricanas flight 901, an attack that killed 21 people. The arrest was carried out by Interpol Venezuela in coordination with Panamanian judicial authorities.
Hage Jalil, 57, was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice issued by Interpol Panama at the request of Panama’s Metropolitan Area Deputy Prosecutor’s Office. He was wanted on charges of intentional homicide and crimes against collective security, specifically against transportation and communications.
The attack on Flight 901
The bombing took place on July 19, 1994, shortly after the plane departed from France Field airport in Colón and was headed to Panama City. A bomb detonated on board, causing the aircraft to crash in the jungle about 10 miles from the airport.
All 21 people on board died, including three U.S. citizens. The attack became one of the darkest moments in Panama’s aviation history and has remained a symbol of the long fight for accountability in a case that sat unresolved for years.
Investigators identified Ali Hawa Jamal, who also died in the attack, as the person believed to have brought the bomb onto the plane. The case has long been linked to broader regional and international terrorism investigations.
International pressure and renewed legal action
In 2024, the U.S. State Department’s Rewards for Justice program offered up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of people involved in planning, aiding, or carrying out the bombing. U.S. intelligence has concluded that Hezbollah was responsible for the attack.
The case gained renewed momentum in Panama after a 2017 letter from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to then-President Juan Carlos Varela said Israeli intelligence had confirmed Hezbollah’s role. Panama’s Metropolitan Area Deputy Prosecutor’s Office later asked the court to reopen the investigation in 2019.
Panamanian authorities are now working with the International Affairs Prosecutor’s Office to begin extradition proceedings so the suspect can be brought to justice in Panama.
Why the arrest matters
The detention of a long-sought suspect gives new life to one of Panama’s most painful criminal cases. For the families of the victims, the arrest raises the possibility that a case that has stretched across generations could move closer to a judicial outcome.
The flight 901 bombing also remains tied to a larger pattern of attacks carried out in 1994, including the bombing of the Jewish Mutual Aid Association building in Argentina one day earlier. The Panama case has repeatedly resurfaced as governments and prosecutors in different countries pursued leads across borders.