Colombia’s armed forces on Tuesday admitted that personnel violated the chain of custody in submitting the missing computer of a FARC commander and that, conveniently, the computer never had a hard drive.
Colombia’s armed forces commander, General Alejandro Navas, admitted Tuesday to local media that a chain of custody was broken in submitting a laptop belonging to FARC commander Henry Castellanos Garzon,alias “Romaña,” and allegedly passed through five different hands before “disappearing.”
However, Navas also claimed that the computer had no hard drive and held no useful information, reported newspaper El Espectador.
According to newspaper El Tiempo, General Navas claimed that an intelligence expert, upon finding the rebel’s computer, supposedly “determined that the computer had no hard disk,” therefore rendering the lost computer virtually useless in the first place for investigation.
Nevertheless, the general stated that the personnel responsible for the missing laptop would continue to be investigated.
Romaña’s computer was seized in 2010 by the military and then somehow disappeared on the way to the Prosecutor General’s office as evidence.
FARC commander Romaño was also recently tied to Mexican drug cartels through secret connection with Colombia’s armed forces.