A former mayor and deputy of the eastern department of Casanare was arrested for allegedly diverting state money to paramilitaries.
Milton Herbert Alvarez Alfonso, the 1998 mayor of the Tauramena municipality in the northeast district Casanare, allegedly met numerous times with members of the Peasant Self-Defense Units of Casanare. Alfonso is said to have pledged a percentage of the municipal budget to the AUC group through contracts from fictitious companies.
Alfonso is also believed to have received political and financial support from the paramilitary group for the two years he served as mayor, and for the three years he was a member of the district assembly.
The former mayor is suspected to have diverted nearly $1.2 million to the now defunct paramilitary group.