The new director of Colombia’s drugs enforcement agency (DNE), which was taken over by the government on Tuesday, said that “everyone” has access to assets seized by the organization.
The DNE is in charge of managing assets confiscated from narco-traffickers. Juan Carlos Restrepo told RCN that all current employees and many old employees had codes that gave them access to the assets. He said nearly anyone could access the property.
“It’s like when you arrive at home and you find out that the entire world has a key, and this is why we’re opening the door to the entities of investigation and and control,” he said.
DNE manages an estimated 70,000 goods taken from drug traffickers, and Restrepo said “everyone” believes they have the right to re-appropriate the goods.
The Colombian government on Tuesday took control of the DNE due to corruption within the organization. Authorities from the intelligence branch of the Colombian police entered the DNE office in Bogota after finding evidence of irregularities in the handling of confiscated assets.
The Inspector General’s Office and the Comptroller have been appointed by President Juan Manuel Santos to conduct investigations into the accusations of corruption. At this point, it is unclear whether or not the DNE will be dismantled.