Colombia’s police on Friday announced a $26,000 reward for information leading to killers of a DEA agent in Bogota early in the morning.
The victim and agent for the DEA, James “Terry” Watson, died early Friday morning after being robbed and stabbed.
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According to local media, the Metropolitan Police of Bogota raised the reward to $26K for information of the whereabouts of the perpetrators.
Colonel Camilo Cabana particularly urged taxi-drivers to come forward as Watson was riding in a taxi and was intercepted by another cab about three blocks from the restaurant he had been spending the evening. According to Cabana, two men got out and tried to pull the American out of the vehicle, stabbing him three times in the chest and once in the leg, Cabana said.
“I ask for the solidarity and support of Bogota taxi drivers,” Cabana was quoted as saying by Colombian radio station Caracol. “You can not allow criminals to camouflage” as taxis.
The ongoing investigations are conducted by a joint team of Interpol, the Bogota police department and a team from the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Meanwhile, The DEA said in a statement from Washington that Special Agent Watson was assigned to the DEA office in Cartagena, Colombia, but was on temporary assignment in Bogota.
Gen. Jose Roberto Leon, director of Colombia’s National Police, said Watson was 43. He had worked in the country for about a year and a half.
Colombian authorities did not say where Watson was from in the United States.