Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad

Colombian government agencies
department=Administrative Department of Security
spanish=Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad
logo=DepAdSegColombia.pngcurrent_director=Maria del Pilar Hurtado
sub_director=
established=1954
discontinued=
successor=incumbent
responsibilities=Security and Intelligence Affairs.
employees=N/A
website=http://www.das.gov.co/ www.das.gov.co

Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS) or Administrative Department of Security is the Security Service of Colombia. This agency is also responsible for the immigration service of Colombia.

Activities

Its role is very complex,Fact|date=June 2007 as it is responsible for providing security to state institutions and personalities, providing judiciary police services and serving as a counterinteligence service to both external and internal threats. DAS in addition has the purposes of immigration control encluding issuing visas.

Article 38 of Decree 218 from 2000 states that all employees of DAS have the function of intelligence agents. DAS works with the DEA, an American agency against drugs. DAS currently is working against drug industry-related traffickers, guerillas and paramilitaries in Colombia.

The bombing

On December 6, 1989, at 7:30 AM, the Medellín Cartel detonated a bus loaded with 1,100 pounds of explosives directly in front of the headquarters building in downtown Bogotá. The explosion left 49 dead, 600 wounded and hundreds of retail outlets completely destroyed. After the bombing of Avianca Flight 203, it is considered to be the second worst terrorist act in the history of Colombia. It was also the second time the cartel attempted - unsuccessfully - to kill DAS director, Miguel Maza Marquez using an explosive device, the first one being on May 30, 1989, which left 4 dead and 37 wounded.

candals

Members of DAS have been previously accused of interacting with left-wing guerrillas, right-wing paramilitary, drug dealers and smugglers, among others.

In October 2005 , the content of a tape arguably containing a conversation between Special Intelligence Group Director Enrique Ariza and other DAS members, apparently discussing plans to create an intelligence office with financing from illegal paramilitary groups, was published in the Colombian press. Unspecified sources accused Vice-Director José Miguel Narváez of allegedly leaking this tape as part of a setup in order to discredit DAS Director Jorge Noguera. Director Noguera resigned and Narváez was removed from command. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_4377000/4377218.stm]

Subsequently, Andrés Peñate was selected as the new DAS Director, together with the announcement of polygraph tests for DAS personnel and the creation of a commission tasked with proposing reforms and a restructuring of the DAS. [http://www.presidencia.gov.co/sne/2005/noviembre/04/06042005.htm]

Between January and March 2006 , new allegations came to light about DAS-paramilitary relations and former Director Noguera's potential involvement. Noguera, who had been placed in charge of the Colombian consulate in Milan, Italy in the meanwhile, resigned from this new post. Noguera and several former high level DAS officials have been called to answer to the judiciary.

President Uribe publicly asked Noguera to appear before the Attorney General's office, but Noguera refused alleging economic and security reasons. Noguera was then acting Consul (representative) in Milan, Italy. [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,191991,00.html] He later resigned, returned to the country and appeared before judicial authorities. On February 22, 2007 Noguera was arrested, accused of having ties to paramilitaries. [http://canalcaracol.com/noticia_interna.asp?hid_id_menu=13&hid_id=8314]

On June 11, 2008, the Colombian Supreme Court ordered the immediate release of Jorge Noguera. [http://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/2008-06-11/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-4253084.html] According to the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective, Noguera was only released to due to procedural defects; however the charges against him -conspiracy to commit a crime, misuse of authority through an arbitrary and unjust act, and improper use of classified or secret information- may still be prosecuted. [http://www.colectivodeabogados.org/article.php3?id_article=1352]

External links

* [http://www.das.gov.co/ DAS Website] (in Spanish)

See also

*List of intelligence agencies
*Colombian Armed Conflict
*Para-political scandal
*List of terrorist incidents