HTTP/1.0 200 OK
Content-Type: text/html
$2 Million in US Aid Is Missing From Colombian
Pubdate: Fri, 10 May 2002
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2002 The New York Times Company
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Section: International
Author: Juan Forero
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption)
$2 MILLION IN U.S. AID IS MISSING FROM COLOMBIAN POLICE FUND
BOGOTA, Colombia, May 10 - The official in charge of antinarcotics efforts
for the National Police, Gen. Gustavo Socha, was removed from his job today
after $2 million in United States funds was reported missing from a special
police administrative account.
Six police officers - two colonels, two majors and two captains - have also
been fired, top police officials announced today, in a scandal that
prompted Washington to suspend a small portion of its aid for Colombia's
drug-eradication efforts.
An official at the United States Embassy confirmed that as many as 20
police officers may have been pocketing money from the account, which has
been frozen since the malfeasance was discovered by American officials two
months ago.
Although no one has been charged, the Colombian attorney general's office
opened a criminal investigation into the case today, said Alvaro Ayala, a
spokesman in that office. "We are calling for all those who handled the
funds to give declarations," Mr. Ayala said.
The loss of the funds, which was first reported Thursday in the Bogota
daily El Tiempo, is an embarrassment for a police agency that has been a
close partner in Washington's efforts to curtail Colombia's burgeoning drug
trade. The police operate aircraft that fumigate drug crops, carry out
search-and-destroy operations of cocaine processing labs and arrest drug
traffickers.
The scandal comes as the Bush administration is prodding Capitol Hill to
widen American funding beyond operations against narcotics traffickers and
help Colombia's beleaguered government fight leftist rebels. The guerrillas
generate revenues to finance their war against the state from the drug trade.
Since 2000, the National Police have received $146 million as part of Plan
Colombia, a huge $1.1 billion aid package. The money that was stolen, which
is considered part of the Plan Colombia allocation, came from a $4 million
account.
American officials expressed confidence that the Colombian government would
take the appropriate action against those involved in the diversion of
funds. In a statement, the embassy said that "this type of incident can
happen in any organization," adding that Washington's confidence in the
force remained "unshaken."
Police officials, including General Socha, also tried to cast the problem
as a procedural slip-up.
An official at the American Embassy noted, however, that the United States
considers the diversion of funds a criminal matter. "What we're talking
about here is malfeasance and not an administrative error," the official
said. "We believe that the money was taken for personal ends."
General Socha, who has been popular with American and Colombian officials
for his dogged efforts to destroy drug crops, was not involved in the
theft, said Gen. Ernesto Gilibert, the top commander of the National
Police. Speaking at a news conference today, he said he was reassigning
General Socha to a unit that provides security for public figures "to give
more transparency" to the investigation.
He named Jorge Enrique Linares, who has been operations director for the
National Police, to take over as chief of the antinarcotics section.
American officials today denied local press reports that the missing funds
had prompted Washington to ground 33 UH-1N helicopters that the Colombian
Army uses to move troops on antinarcotics missions and occasionally to
escort aircraft that fumigate drug crops.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom