check this out ya'll first intifada : lots of ppl fled mid east and some went to south america. I dont many a few, a good number of families. e.g. i had a buddy in college whose mom was born stateside but her parents were lebanese by way of brazil.
that first wace adjusted pretty well to lives in a different country even by our (anon/american standards). then came the 2nd intifada and another wave of ppl fleeing to places gone by the first wave.
their contacts there helped many get on their feet out of sympathy (surely some did for nefarious reasons as well).
shipping companies in panama are a draw internationally due to "flags of convenience". you can google the term. but with local knowledge and presence you can set up all kinds of cut outs and shells by way of panamanian perks (e.g. panama papers)
i brought up first part bc thats how I came to know this stuff. if you check back early post 911 when people in foreign policy circles got into the weeds of finding "alqaeda" threats you can find material on this in particular. extrapolate with anon almonds and new information (e.g. chinese control the base we built in panama) and we may find something