Panama heroin
An undercover anti-narcotics police officer unloads bags of confiscated drugs at a police station in Panama City August 1, 2011. Reuters

In Panama, police seized more 1,400 pounds of heroin over the weekend.

In what is the biggest drug bust in the Latin American nation's history, police found the narcotics inside an abandoned truck parked on the side of the road in the Caribbean Sea-coast town of Gobea.

Authorities believe that the heroin shipment originated in South America and was heading for the United States, according to the Associated Press.

The drugs were separated into 639 packages, each weighing about a kilogram.

Anti-drug prosecutor Javier Caraballo told AP that Panamanian authorities have opened an investigation and are trying to determine if it was an isolated incident, or part of a larger drug trafficking operation.

Last week, police in Panama City seized about 450 kilograms (roughly 1000 pounds) of cocaine in a sting operation, according to Caraballo. So far in 2011, officials have confiscated a total of 22 tons of drugs being shipped through Panama for distribution elsewhere.

Elsewhere, on Monday, police found the body of 45-year-old Ricky Allen in Panama City's marina. Allen was a security guard at the Marina. Police are investigating the incident.