Post date: Jun 21, 2013 5:15:22 PM
A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent is killed in Colombia after being stabbed by robbers.
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (JUNE 21, 2013) (RCN) - A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent died from stab wounds after a robbery late on Thursday (June 20) during a taxi ride from an exclusive part ofColombia's capital, local police and U.S. officials said.
The agent, who has not been officially named, hailed the taxi after leaving a restaurant in Bogota's Parque de la 93 shortly before midnight, Colonel Camilo Cabana of the Bogota police told reporters early on Friday (June 21)."This fellow police officer gets into a taxi after going out with friends after which another taxi intercepts them a few blocks from where he got in and two men get in, two delinquents into the vehicle, with a loaded gun and they cause the injuries," said Cabana. "The local police came and took him to a clinic for attention (medical treatment) where moments later he died."
The U.S. ambassador to Colombia, P. Michael McKinley, said the agent left the restaurant after watching a basketball game with friends.
Police said the crime did not appear connected to the agent's work and that he likely had been taken on what is known as a "millionaire ride" in which victims are taken by taxi and driven to a spot where others enter and then force them to withdraw money from cash machines.
U.S. officials in Bogota and police are watching video recordings of the area where the agent was picked up. A reward of 50 million pesos ($25,800) has been offered for information, said General Jose Roberto Leon, the national police chief.