By PIERRE THOMAS and JASON RYAN | ABC News – 17 hrs ago
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Colombia Secret Service Prostitution …
A month after the Secret Service was rocked by allegations that agents
brought prostitutes to a Colombia hotel where they were preparing for a
visit by President Obama, the Drug Enforcement Administration today
announced that at least three of its agents are also under investigation
for allegedly hiring prostitutes in Cartagena.
Two of the agents allegedly had encounters with masseuses in the
apartment of one of the agents, according to Sen. Susan Collins, the
ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Committee.
[Related: Scandal undermine Americans' faith]
"It's disturbing that we may be uncovering a troubling culture that spans more than one law enforcement agency," the Maine Republican said this evening. "In addition to the Secret Service scandal, we now learn that at least two DEA agents apparently entertained female foreign national masseuses in the Cartagena apartment of one of the agents. The evidence uncovered thus far indicates that this likely was not just a one-time incident."
The revelations that Secret Service personnel had been drinking heavily and cavorting with prostitutes ahead of Obama's trip to Colombia last month overshadowed the president's trip to the Summit of the Americas. Twelve members of the military were also investgated for allegedly hiring prostitutes.
Eight of the 12 Secret Service employees implicated in the scandal lost their jobs, another is in the process of losing his security clearances, and three agents were cleared of serious misconduct but still could be disciplined. The military has completed its investigation but no disciplinary action has been carried out.
[Related: Can the Secret Service be trusted?]
"The Drug Enforcement Administration was provided information from the
Secret Service unrelated to the Cartagena hotel Secret Service incident,
which DEA immediately followed up on, making DEA employees available to
be interviewed by the Department of Justice's Office of Inspector
General," a DEA spokesperson said in a statement.
"DEA takes allegations of misconduct very seriously and will take
appropriate personnel action, if warranted, upon the conclusion of the
OIG investigation." the statement said.
A spokesman for the OIG said the DEA is cooperating in the
investigation, which is being coordinated with the Secret Service,
Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, and the
State Department's Diplomatic Security Service.
The DEA has agents posted in Colombia to work on counter-narcotic and
drug interdiction missions with Colombian authorities. According to
officials the agents were among those assigned in Colombia, they were
not specifically working on the President's trip.
The revelations about the DEA agents comes ahead of a hearing scheduled
on Wednesday with Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan testifying
before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.
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