Felipe Muñoz, director of Colombian intelligence agency DAS, is under preliminary investigation by the Prosecutor General’s Office for his alleged role in the agency’s illegal wiretapping of government critics, according to El Espectador.
This the latest in a series of investigations against various senior DAS officials for illegally tracing movements and communications of people believed to be in opponents of former President Alvaro Uribe. The Prosecutor General’s Office is currently deciding whether former DAS Director Andres Peñate is guilty of taking part in the illegal activities.
Colombian Minister for the Interior and Justice German Vargas Lleras said that he checks in with Muñoz each week to ensure the intelligence agency is not engaging in illegal monitoring of any kind.
DAS became the center of a scandal when allegations emerged in 2009 that the intelligence and security agency had carried out illegal surveillance on the orders of the administration of then-President Alvaro Uribe.
Uribe was forced to dismantle the DAS, Interpol transferred its cooperation with Colombian authorities to the national police, and U.S. Congress ruled that neither the DAS nor its successors will receive any financial aid from the U.S. government.