Posted on 06/19/2002 1:47:04 PM PDT by Alan Chapman
BOGOTA, Colombia - Sixty police officers, including top commanders of anti-narcotics police, are being investigated in the disappearance of more than $2 million in U.S. funds, Colombian authorities announced Tuesday.
The widening scandal threatens to undermine confidence on Capitol Hill in Colombia's security forces, just as the Bush administration is asking U.S. lawmakers to provide more than $500 million in additional aid.
The list of police officers under "disciplinary investigation" by the Colombian inspector-general's office reads like a Who's Who in the Colombian police anti-drug operations.
The list includes Gen. Gustavo Socha, who resigned last month as chief of the counternarcotics police; Col. Yadira Angelica Rivera, in charge of international relations; Col. Carlos Julio Rivera; chief of police aviation; and Col. Climaco Antonio Torres, chief of drug interdiction.
A U.S. Embassy official had previously said that police officers are believed to have used "for personal ends" money intended for administrative expenses and other items, including fuel for vehicles.
Inspector-General Edgar Maya's office, which is responsible for investigating wrongdoing by government officials, said the police are under investigation for "presumed irregularities in the handling and spending of money handed over by the government of the United States."
The investigation is the biggest scandal to hit the Colombian police during President Andres Pastrana's administration.
It comes as his elected successor, Alvaro Uribe, is about to travel to the United States to appeal for more aid.
The United Sates has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in military hardware and training to help Colombia's security forces fight drug trafficking, which finances rebels and right-wing paramilitaries who are fighting the government in the South American country.
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