The former intelligence director of DAS, Jorge Lagos, told Colombia’s Supreme Court on Monday that under the management of Jorge Noguera the government security agency had sent letters designed to intimidate journalists and trade unionists, reported Colombia media.
Lagos admitted to courts that the DAS had sent threatening letters but did not recall the identity of the exact recipients, saying that the confidential reports containing this information were sent directly to Noguera’s successor Andres Penate.
The ex-intelligence official also revealed that in this period the DAS had illegally manipulated and leaked information concerning drug-trafficking, crime and immigration.
During the trial Lagos claimed to be able to name at least 1,500 DAS personnel who had connections with members of paramilitary groups, after performing some 6,000 polygraph tests on the agency’s staff, and that the organization had counted more than 500 cases of possible infiltration by illegal groups.
Jorge Lagos’ claims were made in front of the Supreme Court as part of the ongoing case involving DAS’s alleged links with paramilitary groups and performance of illegal surveillance activities.